New Liverpool signing Marko Grujic has revealed that he wants to avoid Steven Gerrard’s famous No. 8 shirt when it comes to picking his squad number at Anfield.
The promising 20-year-old midfielder signed from Red Star Belgrade for £5m earlier is month, only to return to Serbia on loan for the remainder of this season.
Grujic is seen as a box-to-box midfielder in the Gerrard mould, but has admitted that our ex-captain’s old shirt would be too much pressure for better players than him!
He added that 35 or 88 might be his squad number of choice when he returns to Liverpool to link up with Jurgen Klopp’s first team from the beginning of next term.
The Reds have never had a No.88 so Grujic could be the first, while past No. 35s include Stephen Warnock and Danny Guthrie – slightly less illustrious names to follow.
“No one could bear the weight of Gerrard’s No. 8! Not even players from Real Madrid. I’ll wear 35 or 88. Or something related to No. 8,” Grujic said in the Metro.
Champions League-winning skipper Gerrard wore Liverpool’s No. 8 shirt with distinction for 11 years, having previously sported 17 and 28 in his younger days.
Perhaps Grujic could work his way up to the No. 8 shirt as Gerrard did, although new players may be running away from that number for many more years yet.
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