On Friday morning, we covered the claims from Portugal saying Liverpool midfielder Marko Grujic could stay at Porto following his loan spell with the Dragons.
Even though his permanent signing wasn’t being considered, as he didn’t even have a place in the starting team, things have been changing with his recent performances.
It was claimed that Grujic is now showing he’s available to continue at the club, and that’s an argument Porto shall use once they sit to negotiate the transfer with Liverpool.
Reacting to this news, outlet Record managed an interview with Zoran Filipovic. The 68-year-old, who has a long experience playing and managing Portuguese clubs, knows the midfielder back from his time as a technical director for Serbia.
“I’ve been following his season. He’s a player with great talent. He’s evolved a lot since leaving Serbia. He’s adapting to big clubs. I think he has a great future ahead of him. He can evolve a lot because he has quality for that. I think he’ll improve a lot,” Filipovic told Record.
“I think it’d be better for Marko to stay at FC Porto. I think the bad thing about Serbian players has been the fact that they leave their country very early to play in very big clubs, where it’s very difficult to play because of the competition.
“He is an example of that. He went to Liverpool, but he didn’t have the opportunity to play. A young man needs to play, show his quality, evolve. Now at Porto he’s already able to show his quality.”
O Jogo claimed today that Liverpool demanded €23m for Grujic’s permanent transfer in the summer, but should drop the price now. Following loan spells at Hertha Berlin, Cardiff City and Porto, the player’s contract with the Reds expires in 2023.
