It came as a surprise to many when in the summer of 2014, Liverpool announced Lazar Markovic in a sensational £20m deal from Sevilla. The Serbian winger, a boyhood Chelsea fan seemed destined for Chelsea, with false reports of him joining the Club doing the rounds more than once. A case of lost in translation as the then Benfica President Dragan Duric later clarified. Perhaps the player realised, he would get more chances under Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool than at Chelsea, who had an abundance of quality players at Right-Wing at the time. Chelsea had secured the services of Mohamed Salah as cover for Willian in the preceding winter transfer window.
A seemingly easier pathway to the first eleven as envisioned by the player failed to materialise as after a season with the Reds, having failed to make a good enough impression on Rodgers, he was packed off to Fenerbahce. A loan spell last summer to Sporting Lisbon was cancelled by mutual consent in January as Jurgen Klopp sanctioned a move to Hull City for the remaining of the season. At Hull, under the stewardship of Marco Silva, the Serbian showed flashes of what made him a £20m player. Marco Silva, having taken over at Watford, reserves an interest in the player and with Liverpool looking to offload the player could end his nightmare with the Reds and help the player display his craft in the Premier League.
Watford aren’t the only club interested in the player as Liverpool have received offers from Zenit St Petersburg and several Portuguese and Italian clubs are watching the developments with interest. Liverpool values the player at £12m and according to reports, Galatasaray could swoop for the player considering Markovic’s familiarity with the Turkish League having spent a season on loan with Fenerbahce. Italian relegation candidates Crotone are also circling with interest but may not be able to meet Liverpool’s valuation of the player as they are more interested in a loan deal to help them stay afloat in the Serie A in their maiden top-flight season.
Liverpool have secured the services of Mohamed Salah in a €42m deal from Roma to reinforce their attacking options whereas Markovic never really got a proper look-in under Klopp. The nimble-footed Serbian winger has accused Liverpool of giving up on him too easily. “Liverpool have spent money on me and I believe they should have believed more in my quality”, said the player.
“Both Liverpool and the manager. I believed I should have played more than I did.
“I got the chance to play more elsewhere. I have no problems with that.
“We don’t know what will happen yet, it depends on the Liverpool situation. I still have two years on my contract at Liverpool. We shall see. I enjoy playing in the Premier League and would like to stay in the Premier League.”
The player impressed under Marco Silva scoring twice in his short spell with them helping the Tigers avoid relegation. It remains to be seen whether the pocket heavy Premier League clubs are interested enough in the player to meet Liverpool’s asking price.
