OPINION
The aim of any loan deal should always be for a player to gain the required experience for them to come back and be a more positive influence for their parent club.
Whether they are a youngster learning the ropes, or an old head who is struggling to find a place to fit in, a temporary spell away should always be taken with the express intention of developing and improving.
And that certainly seems to be the way that Marko Grujic is attacking his loan spell with Hertha Berlin.
The 23-year-old is now in his second successive season with the German side, and he is really making a go of things.
S0 far this season he has two goals from five matches from the centre of midfield, and he has backed up those stats with a Whoscored rating of 6.96.
As a point of reference, Gini Wijnaldum’s Whoscored rating this season has been 6.74.
Clearly, Grujic is flying, and according to James Pearce, those efforts are not going unnoticed.
Writing in a Q&A for the Athletic, he said: “[Jurgen] Klopp rates Grujic highly.
“He has a genuine chance of being part of the Liverpool squad for the 2020/21 season.
“Klopp was delighted with his development at Hertha last season and was keen to ensure he played regularly again this season.”
Pearce knows his stuff, and if he is backing Grujic to make that breakthrough at Anfield then he has a really excellent chance of doing so.
He’s a good age, he’s playing every week in one of the top leagues in Europe, and given his current form, you wouldn’t bet against him being a real success when he returns to Merseyside.
After all, that is the whole point of a loan.
