Fabrizio Romano has confirmed news of an imminent departure from Liverpool on the penultimate day of the summer transfer window.
As has been expected, Stefan Bajcetic will exit Anfield on loan to join Red Bull Salzburg – where former Reds assistant manager Pep Lijnders is now in charge – after Barcelona were forced to shelve an attempted hijack of the deal.
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Just after 9am this morning, Romano posted on X: “Stefan Bajcetic to RB Salzburg, here we go! No chance for Barcelona even with attempts overnight. Barça issues with Financial Fair Play block the move and they can’t proceed with La Liga limits. Bajcetic leaves #LFC to join Salzburg, travel and medical today.”
🔴⚪️✈️ Stefan Bajcetić to RB Salzburg, here we go! No chance for Barcelona even with attempts overnight.
Barça issues with Financial Fair Play block the move and they can’t proceed with La Liga limits.
Bajcetić leaves #LFC to join Salzburg, travel and medical today. 🇦🇹 pic.twitter.com/ovTT71oLFu
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 29, 2024
After a rather eventful few days behind the scenes, Bajcetic now has clarity on his immediate future, with Salzburg possibly making the deal official in the next 12 to 24 hours if all goes to plan.
The young midfielder should benefit from having a familiar face in Lijnders – along with Vitor Matos – leading his development at a club who’ll be in contention for silverware domestically while also testing themselves at the highest level thanks to their qualification for the newly-expanded Champions League.
Of course, the possibility of a swift return to Anfield is viable, should the Austrian side be drawn against Liverpool when the pairings are made on Thursday evening.
With Bajcetic’s pathway to regular first-team minutes on Merseyside blocked by stiff competition, hopefully he’ll feature prominently in Salzburg and get the game-time that he needs in order to come back to his parent club a discernibly enhanced player.
After seeing last season effectively written off by injury problems, the 19-year-old will be striving to make up for lost time in Austria, and he could hardly wish for a better mentor than Lijnders to guide him on the right path.
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Well done Liverpool we send a class player like Stefan on loan and keep that deadwood Curtis Jones, unbelievable 🤬🤬🤬🤬