Liverpool impressed in their third pre-season game beating RB Leipzig 5-0 at the Red Bull Arena.
Summer signing Darwin Nunez proved the pre-season haters wrong by bagging four goals with Mohamed Salah also getting on the scoresheet.
Whilst many players stood out for their performances such as Fabio Carvalho, Nunez and Roberto Firmino, fans have been raving over the performance of 17-year-old Stefan Bajcetic.
With Bajcetic starring for the Reds last night, we thought we would shine a light on the versatile young talent.
Stefan Bajcetic, by the way.
Looks a talent.
— Anfield Edition (@AnfieldEdition) July 21, 2022
Who is Stefan Bajcetic?
Bajcetic is a 17-year-old Spanish youth international who plays either defensive midfield or as a centre-back in the youth set-up.
Joining Liverpool from Celta Vigo in February 2021 for £250,000, he enjoyed 22 games in the youth team last season playing for the Spanish U18, Liverpool U18, Liverpool FC UEFA U19 and the Liverpool U23s.
His emergence in the game against Leipzig had Liverpool fans raving on social media.
Entering the fray in the 60th minute, his calmness on the ball, passing range and high pressing to force Liverpool’s third goal was all very impressive; it even earned him a dedicated fan account on Twitter.
Should really include Stefan Bajcetic because he was great for the goal. 17!
— The Anfield Wrap (@TheAnfieldWrap) July 21, 2022
When will we see Bajcetic again?
Despite some great cameos in pre-season, it’s likely we will only get to see the Spaniard in games against lesser opposition throughout the season.
At 17, and playing in a highly contested position in Liverpool’s squad, the opportunities are just not there right now.
Long term he could be the answer to Fabinho in that defensive midfield role but he is being earmarked as one of the next academy products to break through into the first-team squad which could happen sooner than we think.
He was even being planned for first-team experience from January according to Klopp’s right-hand man Pep Lijnders.
Lijnders said: “I really believe in our project looking at our academy. “We look all the time at the Academy. Our U18s played against Burnley in the FA Youth Cup (earlier that week) and we had Bobby Clark, Luke Chambers, Stefan Bajcetic, they all stand out.”
Fans will hope to see him against RB Salzburg in their next pre-season game on Wednesday but will surely see him at Anfield against Strasbourg on the 30th of July.
Mini-thread: Stefan Bajcetic
Bajcetic is a 17-year-old Spanish youth international that his split his time playing as a centre-back and defensive midfielder. Born in Vigo but of Serbian heritage; father, Srdjan Bajcetic played for Celta. pic.twitter.com/O6geRgVCqf
— Lewis Bower (@LewisBower2021) July 14, 2022
