Liverpool’s free-flowing attack has earned plenty of plaudits this season but the stellar form of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah has affected others at the club, including outcast Lazar Markovic.
The Serbia international signed for the Reds in a reported £20m deal in 2014 and made 34 appearances in his debut season at Anfield but has since been frozen out by Jurgen Klopp, spending time on-loan with Fenerbache, Hull City and Sporting Lisbon.
Now with Belgian side Anderlecht, the 24-year-old scored his first goal for the club at the weekend and hit out at his Anfield employers for not giving him the chance to leave and demanding ‘unrealistic’ fees in the market.
Speaking to Serbian TV, Markovic said:
“I have had a very difficult time at Liverpool. I thank everyone involved for my beautiful goal – it shows that I am still the player I was before. It shows Liverpool’s people that they can’t treat me the way they have done. It has affected me.”
“It is natural for me to take it personally when they don’t let me leave by asking an unrealistic transfer fee for me. I am not just saying this as an emotional outburst. I have felt this way for months – it is simply what I think.”
Capped 22 times by Serbia and signed to Liverpool until 2019, Markovic has not featured for his nation since 2016 and is poised to miss the World Cup this summer.
