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Jurgen Klopp’s first ever Liverpool signing has been forgotten by many
Published 12:50 18 May 2024 BST
Updated 14:59 18 May 2024 BST
Homesport
The midfielder failed to live up to expectations during his stint at Anfield.
Marko Grujic was signed by Liverpool in January 2016. Despite having potential the Serbian never fulfilled his ambitions at Anfield. Liverpool signed the midfielder for a reported fee of £5.1 million but did not see a fruitful return on their investment on the pitch, he contributed with just one goal in 16 appearances in red.
The 28-year-old’s only goal came in a 7-2 League Cup win over Lincoln City in September 2020.
After a series of loans at Cardiff City and Hertha BSC, he joined Porto on loan in 2020 where he featured regularly.
Successful loan
Speaking to the Athletic in 2021, the Serbian claimed he wanted a home and found that during his loan spell at Porto, he said: “I enjoyed my time at Porto and I liked the idea of coming back here.
“When the two clubs had an agreement and they told me the transfer was possible then I gave it the green light. I think it was a deal that make sense for everyone.
“It’s not easy when every year you are going out on loan to another club. It feels different when you are playing for a team who have actually signed you permanently. I wanted to feel like I was really at home somewhere.”
The Portuguese side made the deal permanent for £10.5m deal in July 2021 meaning Liverpool more than doubled their money. Grujic has secured multiple trophies at Porto winning the Premeira Liga in 2021-22 and Taca de Portugal most recently in 2022-23.
Grujic looked back on his Liverpool tenure, he said: “I would say my career at Liverpool was successful. Not in terms of games played or what I achieved for the club, but I certainly left Liverpool as a much better player than when I first arrived.
“The coaching staff helped my development and so did the loan spells I had in terms of gaining more experience.
“I learned so much from the senior players at Liverpool about the sacrifices you have to make off the pitch to fulfil your full potential. That professionalism and dedication in terms of how you should live your life is something I certainly took with me.”
“I’ll stick to that for the rest of my career. Of course, I would have loved to play more but I’ll always be grateful for the education I got at Liverpool.”
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