Jurgen Klopp handed a Premier League debut to teenage midfielder Stefan Bajcetic yesterday and the youngster has been discussing the ‘unbelievable’ moment.
The Spain youth international was a second half substitute for Liverpool as they defeated Bournemouth 9-0 at Anfield and the former Celta Vigo man has admitted that as the goals continued to go in for the Reds he knew he may have a chance of earning some minutes.
“Yeah, definitely!” the 17-year-old told Liverpoolfc.com. “I was talking to Bobby [Clarke] saying, ‘This is our time, I think we’re going to go on!’ and we did, so happy days… I’ve been playing with him for two years now and we came in the club together so he is one of my best friends and I am so happy for him as well.
“It was unbelievable. On six minutes I think it was 2-0 already. I was on the bench saying, ‘Unbelievable!’ and the atmosphere was crazy. We all knew it was a very important game to win because we needed our first win and now I hope there is more to come.”
The No. 43 also revealed the message that he was given by Klopp moments before he entered the fray and replaced captain Jordan Henderson.
“Just: ‘Play like you do in training, with confidence, and don’t worry about it. It’s the same in training as in the games,” Bajcetic said.
The teenager was one of our standout performers in pre-season and despite his young age he looks extremely calm and composed on the ball.
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With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Curtis Jones, Naby Keita and Thiago Alcantara all out through injury at the moment, you’d have every right to expect that Bajcetic will be included in the match day squad for the clash with Newcastle on Wednesday night.
His cameo against the Cherries on Saturday was an impressive one and it’s great to see some of the Academy graduates earning some first team minutes.
If they’re good enough then they’re old enough and Klopp isn’t shy to give youngsters a chance!