Once one of the most promising defensive midfielders in European football, Marko Grujic’s reputation has taken a massive hit over the past couple of seasons. And now it’s clear that Liverpool are looking to find a permanent home for the disappointing loanee so that they can move on to focusing on other developmental projects in midfield.
Grujic is playing out the 2020-2021 season on loan at FC Porto, and this has been his worst season on loan to date. The 25-year-old has been thoroughly outshined by other midfielders in Porto, with Sergio Oliveira being the Liga NOS side’s pick of the bunch.
So far this season, Grujic has made just 7 starts in the league and 14 appearances off the bench with 4 starts and 4 bench appearances in the Champions League. He has no assists and just one goal between both competitions. His analytics on both offense and defense look downright disastrous, when viewing his WhoScored.com profile page. There is very little to like about what he’s done this season.
A Bola recently reported, via Sport Witness’ Lucas Sposito, that while Liverpool would like to sell Marko Grujic off permanently, Porto have no interest in such a deal. Surprisingly, they would take him on loan, but they do not want to pay 20 million euros for the player.
Liverpool are going to have trouble selling Marko Grujic at a favorable price
That’s the price the Reds are holding firm on for Grujic, but it’s going to be nearly impossible for Liverpool to find any interested parties during the pandemic. They could potentially sell Grujic for around half that price, but it makes sense for the club to go for more when Grujic is a notable name who could still play at a high level in the right situation.
Grujic’s biggest problems are making unnecessary fouls and being too inconsistent. The talent has always been there, as he showed in the 2018-2019 season while with Hertha Berlin in the Bundesliga. And it’s also a good sign that Porto want him on loan again, even if he isn’t an every-game starter for them.
There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of interest in Grujic, though maybe the clubs in the Premier League he rejected last summer will still try to shoot their shot. Yet it’s unlikely they’d want to pay the 20 million euros Porto won’t, especially since his progress has seemingly stagnated.
Liverpool want to make a tidy sale on Gruijc and raise funds to sign a star player who can help them in the 2021-2022 season. As we have seen this year, the Reds still need an extra boost in order to keep up with the competition – namely the bottomless pockets of Manchester City and Chelsea – in the Premier League.
Grujic’s situation is fluid, but it would not be surprising if the club were forced to send the midfielder on yet another loan to Porto in lieu of any convincing offers.