Marko Grujic has joined up with Serbia’s U21 squad late, after Liverpool kept him back to investigate an injury the player was carrying.
Usually that would mean the next step would be an email to the Serbia football association, explaining there was too much doubt over the situation and Grujic would stay on Merseyside.
Given that Serbia’s U20 team won the World Cup last year in New Zealand, there’s a lot riding on this.
Serbian newspaper Blic say Grujic’s injury is ‘obviously not serious’, otherwise Liverpool wouldn’t have released him.
Letting the player go, even though there’s obviously a hesitation and worry, looks like good man management from Jurgen Klopp. Grujic and his family really had to be convinced that a Liverpool move was the best career step, and a block on this match may have created annoyance.
This way Grujic knows that Liverpool and Klopp respect his wish to play for the Serbia U21 side, despite already being a full international, and respect the importance of the matches against Norway.
Of course, it may back fire if Grujic returns in a worse state than when he left, but that’s probably a risk worth taking.
