Stefan Bajcetic move set to have knock-on effect on Liverpool's $26m transfer plans

Jurgen Klopp took great pride in bringing through a crop of excellent youngsters. He called the Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea in February one of the best moments of his career, as it was achieved by using a multitude of academy graduates.

Klopp had great emotional attachment to the young lads at the club, but those days appear to be over. It’s not better or worse, necessarily, but there has been something of a clear out since the previous manager left.

Brentford have snapped up Fabio Carvalho and Sepp van den Berg , while Bobby Clark has reunited with Pep Lijnders in Salzburg. The exits aren’t done there either, with a loan move for Stefan Bajcetic seeming to affect Liverpool’s plan for Tyler Morton .

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Like Clark, Bajcetic is off to Austria to work under Lijnders once again. According to The Athletic, the 19-year-old will spend 2024/25 with Salzburg, with the Reds receiving a loan fee in return. This is a good move for all parties.

After missing the end of 2022/23 thanks to injury, Bajcetic only made three appearances last season. A solitary start in the Europa League against LASK is not enough for a player of his talent, he needs regular minutes to continue his development and trajectory towards the top of the game.

It was reported yesterday, again by The Athletic , that Barcelona was looking to hijack the move. The Catalan club made a loan fee offer in the region of $4.4m (£3.3m/€4m) for the Spanish under-21 international. However, Barca’s well known issues with Financial Fair Play in La Liga appear to have put that option to bed.

As long as Bajcetic will be playing regularly, the Reds probably don’t mind which top club he represents this season. But as much as the current iteration of Liverpool looks more than happy to dispense with youngsters, there is a limit to how many they can afford to lose in one go, even on a temporary basis. This will have financial implications too.

The report has claimed that Bajcetic’s exit will mean that Morton remains with the club. Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen were reportedly looking to take him on loan, but Liverpool was only interested in a sale, with $26m (£20m/€24m) believed to be the asking price.

Whether the reigning Bundesliga champion would be prepared to pay that is unknown. But there probably are clubs out there that are. In trying to help Bajcetic get past his injury troubles, the Reds may have denied themselves some funds for their transfer pot.

Liverpool.com says: Liverpool is thankfully not in a position in which it needs to sell youngsters to keep the club afloat. Richard Hughes and co. may need to pause for thought before getting rid of too many starlets, though, especially with incomings for 2024/25 looking very likely to be minimal.