Why Liverpool should offload Marko Grujic in the summer

Naby Keita, James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and even Xherdan Shaqiri are the options that Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has at his disposal as options in midfield.

Out of all, Shaqiri, Milner and Fabinho are capable of playing in multiple positions across the midfield which certainly makes it difficult for any young and ambitious player to get a chance in Liverpool’s starting XI. The same for Marko Grujic, who appears to have no future at the club once he returns from his loan spell.

Marko Grujic, 22, has been in excellent form for Hertha BSC, showing why Liverpool were so adamant to win the race for the Serbian a couple of years back. While they did do that, the 22-year-old has managed just 14 appearances in all at Liverpool, spending much of his time on loan at Red Star Belgrade, Cardiff City and now Hertha Berlin.

Now in the Bundesliga, Marko Grujic has found his place and could potentially make a permanent move in the near future according to German news outlet Kicker and the Liverpool Echo.

A tall and physically imposing midfielder, the 22-year-old has the potential to do great things if given the chance to show his skills, which is exactly what Hertha Berlin have let him do. The Serbian made 10 appearances for the Bundesliga side before an injury hampered his further progress at Hertha.

So much so that Hertha Berlin manager Pal Dardai even went on to call him the best midfielder at Berlin in over the last 20 years. However, like many footballers, the 22-year-old has his fair share of weaknesses, which make him a misfit for a Jurgen Klopp side.

Klopp expects his players to track back and make defensive contributions when required, which is by far Marko Grujic’s weakest area.

Grujic struggles defensively and that has affected his chances at Liverpool, with the Serbian showing no signs of improving that over the last two years. While that hasn’t affected his chances at Hertha Berlin, thanks in part to the fact that manager Pal Dardai has built a team around the on-loan Liverpool star.

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However, that combined with other factors has led to Grujic improving in certain defensive areas with the 22-year-old averaging 1.8 tackles, 3.2 clearances and 1.3 interceptions per game, according to Whoscored. This not only shows a marked change but at the same time, it tells us that Grujic’s time at Liverpool clearly didn’t help him in his development.