Liverpool’s win over Ajax was much needed to say the least, but one of their young stars was on hand to break a famous record last night.
The Reds edged out Ajax thanks to a late goal from Joel Matip, as they bounced back from a horrifying 4-1 defeat in Naples a week earlier.
It was another great night at Anfield in the Champions League and it also featured one of their young future stars breaking a huge record.
It was 17-year-old Stefan Bajcetic who became Liverpool’s fourth youngest player to feature in a European game – an incredible feat.
The late cameo from Stefan Bajčetić has seen him become the fourth youngest player to feature in Europe.
Phil Charnock (17y, 7m & 2d)
Raheem Sterling (17y, 7m & 25d)
Michael Owen (17y, 9m & 2d)
Stefan Bajčetić (17y, 10m & 20d)The Spaniard has a bright future ahead of him. #LFC
— Liam Bekker (@LiamBekker) September 13, 2022
Record-breaking youngster
Bajcetic has become Liverpool’s fourth youngest ever player to feature in the Champions League at 17 years, 10 months and 22 days – alongside other famed names such as Raheem Sterling, Michael Owen and Phil Charnock.
He also managed to break a similar record in the Premier League this season against Bournemouth; he became Liverpool’s youngest-ever non-British Premier League player at 17 years and 309 days.
Alongside Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho, Liverpool boast three extremely talented youngsters, all of whom look set to stay in the first team for a long time.
It will be surprising if he gets the chance to go out on loan to really develop with regular football, but for now, he’s part of the first-team squad and will also earn minutes in the youth set-up when he can fit them in alongside the first-team commitments.
Stefan Bajcetic vs RB leipzig 🤩he played just 30 mins btw https://t.co/PSEgK0ofqz
— Stefan Bajcetic Xtra (@SBMXtra) July 22, 2022
Having impressed in pre-season, Bacjectic continues to be involved with the first-team squad and the higher-ups at Liverpool are reportedly very pleased with his progress.
According to the Liverpool Echo‘s Paul Gorst, those within the club see him as being “well ahead of his long-term schedule.”
Staff are said to be “delighted with the progress made by Bajcetic both over the summer and as a whole since he joined the club,” with his “growth and development” highlighted. However, there is still a “reluctance to overly expose him so early into his career.”
This is good news for fans, as Bajcetic’s young talents have been widely praised by fans on social media and he’s currently on track to be an important player for Liverpool in the future.