Liverpool’s Serbian acquisition Marko Grujic will wear the no.16 next season, as displayed on the official website’s squad list.
We snapped up Grujic in January, but the midfielder stayed with parent club Red Star Belgrade until the end of the season – only joining up with his new team-mates this weekend just gone for the start of pre-season.
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Previous incumbents of Liverpool’s no.16 in the Premier League era include Didi Hamann, Jermaine Pennant, Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Sebastian Coates, and we’d be absolutely delighted if Grujic followed in the footsteps of the brilliant German rather than those who followed!
The 20-year-old is free to play for us in friendlies and competitive games after being granted a work permit after a special plea from Jurgen Klopp, Sky Sports report.
He’s most accustomed to playing central midfield, so will be competing for a spot in Klopp’s double pivot during the 2016/17 campaign.
Grujic will have to usurp the likes of Jordan Henderson, James Milner and potentially Joe Allen and Lucas (should they stay) for a place alongside Emre Can – and his performances in the upcoming friendlies will be interesting in that Reds can see him in action for likely the first time.