FABRIZIO ROMANO EXPECTS LIVERPOOL STAR TO MISS OUT ON LAST-MINUTE BARCELONA MOVE
A notable Liverpool player who had a meteoric rise to the first team is set to miss out on a dream loan move to Barcelona.
Stefan Bajcetic is surplus to Arne Slot’s plans this season, and was made available for loan earlier this month. Now it transpires that he could well have ended up at Barcelona as they made a last-minute attempt to secure his loan signing.
According to a report from David Ornstein in The Athletic, Barcelona made an approach after one of their own young midfielders, Marc Bernal, tore his ACL in the last minutes of their win against Rayo Vallecano on Tuesday night.
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As it is instead, Liverpool and Red Bull Salzburg were well in advanced talks over a loan for Bajcetic before Barcelona attempted an audacious eleventh-hour swoop, and with the loan fee for the Spanish midfielder less of an issue for the Austrian club than the Catalan giants, Bajcetic will be joining back up with Pep Lijnders at the foot of the Alps.
"We didn't expect Barca"
The last-ditch proposal by Barcelona took many people by surprise, not least Bajcetic’s own father, Srdan. Speaking to Catalonian radio station RAC 1, he said yesterday “We didn't expect Barça to enter the race […] we have all ready to go to Salzburg. But we still don't have any info on what's gonna happen. I'd like Stefan to play for a top club like Barça or Liverpool, he’s ready for top clubs.”
Stefan Bajcetic Liverpool
Bajcetic has had a difficult time finding his feet again after such a long time out through injury, and there was some social media speculation that given Barcelona’s recent propensity to over-play their youngsters it would not have been wise to send Bajcetic there temporarily.
With Lijnders and Salzburg having already taken Bobby Clark off Liverpool’s books on a permanent basis, here’s hoping he can also help Bajcetic get back to form and fitness.
Romano confirms Bajcetic Barcelona attempt
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano wrote on his Daily Briefing that Barca's lack of financial head room meant no deal could be done for Bajcetic.
“Firstly, everything was agreed for Bajcetic to move on loan to Red Bull Salzburg, but then Barcelona called and presented Liverpool with a proposal for a loan. It was a €4m loan fee, with no buy option or obligation, and Barca also called the player to try to persuade him,” he wrote.
“So, what happened? While Barcelona tried to make this deal happen, they also had big issues with Financial Fair Play, so it was an issue for them to get the green light from La Liga. They spent all day trying to find a way with La Liga, but as of now, still nothing has been approved, so the expectation of the agents of the player, and of Salzburg and of Liverpool and all parties involved, is for Bajcetic to travel tomorrow to Salzburg and complete his move there.”