Liverpool fans who follow Sport Witness already know how much Lazar Markovic has been highlighted in the Portuguese press recently.
The player was already known in Portugal for having played at Benfica, so his loan to Sporting attracted much more attention than the move of Arsenal’s Joel Campbell, for example.
Well, Markovic isn’t having a dream start to the season for the club, and the patience of the fans with their former rival is wearing thin.
The player has been booed in a couple of games, and now Diário de Notícias has managed to interview former Porto and Benfica player Ljubinko Drulovic, who was also Markovic’s coach in the Serbian National Team’s youth levels.
“I think he doesn’t care about the boos and deals with it fine”, Drulovic told Diário de Notícias. “He must’ve thought that it could happen when he came to Sporting, especially because he’s been at Benfica and the rivalry between the clubs will never change. But if Markovic plays well, the fans’ opinion will change.”
The former coach also said his early move to Liverpool has spoiled his growth as a player: “He took a good decision by returning to Portuguese football and I know he’s back also because of Jorge Jesus. In my opinion, he left Benfica too early, he should’ve stayed for two or three more years to gain experience.
“He left for England too early and had too much competition, then in Turkey, he was out because of injuries for too long. But he’s a spectacular professional and will work to improve and get back to old times, because he’s a great talent, he just isn’t playing at his level”.
Markovic’s contract with Liverpool runs until 2019. He had only one season at Anfield after being bought from Benfica in 2014 for €25m, as he was later loaned to Fenerbahce and now Sporting.
