Liverpool's erstwhile manager Jurgen Klopp earned a reputation as a great tactician, but perhaps above all else he was known for his incredible relationships with his players. Yet even he had one or two cases where tension broke out .
For the most part, Klopp squeezed the absolute maximum out of his charges, making sure the team at Anfield was far greater than the sum of its parts. But that's not to say that the players were anything other than world-class, and those who did not quite make the grade ultimately had to be cut.
When he arrived in 2015, Klopp inherited a pretty ropey squad. A select few would go on to be key players well into the German's tenure, not least Philippe Coutinho , Roberto Firmino and Adam Lallana (while Trent Alexander-Arnold was on the books at Academy level), but others left without getting so much as a look-in.
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Mario Balotelli, for instance, was never going to be a Klopp player. Christian Benteke was able to complete the campaign at Liverpool, but it was his first and only season in Red, with Firmino swiftly preferred.
Then there was Lazar Markovic. Signed from Benfica for $26m (£20m/€24m) in 2014, he was a regular for a spell under Brendan Rodgers (who can forget that Europa League red card?).
But by the time Klopp arrived, he was already on a season-long loan to Fenerbahce in Turkey, having fallen down the pecking order at Anfield. And if he had hoped for a fresh start under the new boss, it never arrived, with Liverpool seeking to sell Markovic at the first opportunity.
A permanent deal proved hard to strike, and Markovic ended up on two more loans the following season, first to Sporting CP and then to Hull City. He actually looked pretty good in this stint back in the Premier League , but it was not enough to earn him a chance, and he was off to Anderlecht (again on loan) midway through 2017/18.
While in Belgium, Markovic could not contain his frustration. He sent a message to Klopp and the club staff after scoring for Anderlecht.
“It’s to show that I’m still the same player, to show the people at Liverpool that they can’t treat me that way,” he told DH, via Sport Witness . “Yes, it’s okay to take it personally when you are not let go because they’re asking for an unrealistic transfer amount.”
That proved to be his only goal at the Belgian side. His time at Liverpool finally ended when he moved to Fulham on a free transfer. But he hardly featured, and returned to his former club Partizan after his short deal in West London expired.
That was more of a success for Markovic, and he was there for three years before moving to Gaziantep in Turkey. While there, he was sent on another loan, this time to Trabzonspor — in the unusual circumstances of his parent club having withdrawn from the division due to the effects of an earthquake.
Making it nine clubs in a decade, FC Baniyas of Abu Dhabi has just announced the signing of Markovic, per the ECHO . Best of luck to him, but time does very much appear to have proved Klopp right.
Liverpool.com says: This is why I'm not Liverpool manager. I always held out hope that Markovic would be a success, especially after that Hull loan move.
But Klopp never showed an interest in integrating Markovic, instead building the most fearsome front three in world football. Fair enough.
That being said, Liverpool should probably have granted Markovic a permanent departure sooner. The succession of loans did not help his career trajectory, and the Reds ultimately made no money at all from him.
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