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Mark Lawrenson says 18-year-old Liverpool youngster is going to start in midfield this season
Liverpool midfielder Stefan Bajcetic will start as soon as he’s fit enough to play again.
That’s the opinion of Mark Lawrenson, who ahead of Liverpool’s win against SV Darmstadt.
Liverpool ran out 3-1 winners in their final pre-season friendly of the summer.
Jurgen Klopp’s starting attacking trio of Mohamed Salah, Luis Diaz and Diogo Jota all found the back of the net.
Klopp was still keen to play Cody Gakpo yesterday, with the Dutch international dropping into midfield.
The 24-year-old is well-known for his versatility but has rarely been seen in a deeper role at Liverpool.
That meant Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister dropped deeper as well, with the World Cup winner playing as a number six.
It’s not his natural role and Klopp is looking for options as their search to sign a holding midfielder in the transfer window continues.
Lawrenson believes the solution already exists at Liverpool and thinks Stefan Bajcetic will start once he’s fit.
He’s already been working hard in pre-season and hopefully isn’t too far away.
Bajcetic will start for Liverpool once he’s fit – Liverpool
Speaking about the 18-year-old, : “I think he’s a player, I don’t think there’s any doubt about it.
“Just the way that when the ball comes to him, the way he just moves with it, you know he’s going to be a player.
“I think he’ll be in the team as soon as they think he’s fit, he’s that good.
“The manager kept playing him and he trusted him. There was a game and it was only probably going to be his third or fourth game and we’re all guessing saying, ‘Nah, he’s probably going to leave him out, he’s done really, really well.’
“He might have been the first on the team sheet. He’s grown in stature and he’s got it.
“You can just see that he’s absolutely, totally got it.”
Many Liverpool fans will be glad to see Bajcetic ready to start sooner rather than later.
He was a game-changing player last season when Liverpool’s overall performances were quickly slipping.
Romeo Lavia is still Liverpool’s top target and the pair could be rotated between throughout the season.
However, if Klopp puts his pull faith in Bajcetic, he could save the club a lot of money which could be used elsewhere.