Marko Grujic finally got his move away from Liverpool this year, with Portuguese giants FC Porto offering to take the Serbian on a season-long loan.
This news was broken by Standard reporter David Lynch and was quickly confirmed by the club.
The midfielder attracted a lot of interest from Germany, but the Premier League champions reportedly demanded he leave on a permanent deal or not at all.
Transfer deadline day passed and Grujic was still a Liverpool player – the only issue is the Reds had 19 non-homegrown players on their books and can only register 18.
The move to Porto, while not what the Reds wanted, is a good move for the midfielder and shows the club has some humility, as the 24-year-old would have been forced to play with the reserves until January.
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A season in Portugal could actually dramatically change things for the midfielder. While Liverpool were chasing a permanent deal this summer, it could be a different story in 12 months.
Gini Wijnaldum is expected to leave the club at the end of the season at the end of his contract, and Jurgen Klopp will surely be looking for a new squad player.
If Grujic impresses on loan, as he did with Hertha Berlin in Germany, he could be exactly the sort of player the boss will be looking for.