Rumour Mongering: Lazar Marković Linked with Lazio Move

Lazar Marković produced a lovely assist for Marko Grujić to make it four-nil to Liverpool against Barcelona in a packed Wembley on Saturday. While it’s unlikely to do enough to displace the likes of Sadio Mané or Philippe Coutinho from the starting eleven, it was a reminder of what the 22-year-old can do. Latest rumours have linked the 22-year-old with a move to Serie A side Lazio.

Marković appears to be one of the players who would be sold if the offer was satisfactory. Luis Alberto, Christian Benteke, and even Lucas Leiva are players that wouldn't feature regularly but could fetch sizeable fees in the summer transfer window. If such players cannot command high fees, removing their wages off the books would be—in some ways, anyway—just as valuable. Mario Balotelli could end up being an example of this.

When Klopp has spoken about Marković, there hasn't been anything firm to suggest staying beyond the end of the summer transfer window is likely. Everything seems open-ended and possible for Marković, a player who should hold enough value and potential despite a patchy loan spell at Fenerbahçe. Reports from Italy indicate that Lazio are interested in the Serbian wingers talents and are preparing an formal offer to take the fleet-footed attacker to Serie A.

While a loan deal might not be acceptable to Liverpool at this stage, Keita Balde could be set for a move away from Lazio—thereby creating a vacancy for Marković. The forward missed training last month and complained about how the Italian side were treating him. The scramble for players will become more frenzied later in the month, triggering a variety of moves that could involve quite a few Liverpool players who seem available in the right circumstances.

Maybe this rumour isn't one that will end up in a move, but as usual, it's worth monitoring while world transfer records are being broken in curious circumstances. It does seem unlikely, however, that Liverpool will accept anything other than a permanent deal for a talented player with three years left on his current contract.