OPINION
Liverpool midfielder Marko Grujic has only made eight Premier League appearances since joining the Reds in 2016, so many fans might not be too familiar with him.
He has enjoyed loan spells with the likes of Cardiff City in the past, but now he is playing at Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin, a club where he has seemingly been enjoying his football.
What Jurgen Klopp feels about his progress remains to be seen. Grujic clearly is not in his plans if he decided to let him leave on loan, and that is no surprise given the quality of Liverpool’s central midfield.
James Milner, Fabinho, Naby Keita, Gini Wijnaldum – the list can go on. What is abundantly clear here though, is that the 22-year-old would really struggle competing with players of this quality for a place in the starting XI.
This is why he needs to be loaned out to Hertha Berlin once again this summer – and that could now be made a lot easier after he admitted to German news outlet Bild that he would like to stay there for a little while longer.
“If I could choose myself, I would stay with Hertha for another year, or maybe even two years, to make a very good name for me by improving all my qualities. And that’s only possible if you do every game,” he said.
Who can blame Grujic for making this honest admission about his future? It is now even more clear that sealing a loan exit for him is the way to help him develop, as it is not like his teammates are going to stop impressing any time soon. He said that it is more important for him to be in the starting XI then just to be a squad member at a club.
“Of course it would be great to be [at Liverpool. But for the development of my career at this time it is much more important to always be in the starting eleven than to be mentioned by name. ”
If the young midfielder wants to continue with his development, then loaning him out is the best thing to do – and if this means that he can salvage his Liverpool career, then so be it.
