Lazar Markovic has six months to resurrect his career, in reality.
If he fails at Hull City, it’s pretty clear his future isn’t at the top.
The Serbian’s loan was cancelled by Sporting Lisbon midway through this month, but despite the fact Liverpool are crying out for right-wing enforcements, Jurgen Klopp was happy to lend him to the Premier League relegation strugglers anyway – a hint at how highly (or lowly) he rates the 22-year-old.
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But when Liverpool shelled out for Markovic in 2014, the world seemed his oyster.
We spent £20m on his services from Benfica and have found these two quotes from 2014 that show his rumoured pedigree. It looked like we’d bought a world-beater…
Andry Brassell, BBC Sport’s European football editor, said he’d be worth £40m by 2015, while Avram Grant made an outrageous comparison to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
“He’s a player with a rare talent. The raw potential is absolutely enormous. If he can progress at the present rate he’s going to be worth twice the money that they paid for him in 12 to 18 months’ time, so it’s a good investment,” Brassell told BBC Sport.
“I can say that apart from Ronaldo and Messi, Markovic is one of the best talents I’ve ever seen at 19 years of age,” the ex-Chelsea boss told the Mirror.
That’s the kind of player Liverpool thought they were buying.. Markovic though started well for Hull against Manchester United, and Klopp has intimated (via Echo) that if he suitably impresses there may be a way back..
We’d love to see him turn it around, as it’s clear that there’s enormous talent in this offensive midfielder, who’s still contracted to Liverpool of course.