Rumour Mongering: Fenerbahce Target Marko Grujic

Marko Grujic was Jürgen Klopp’s first signing, a youngster singled out by assistant Zeljko Buvac as a potential future star and signed as a 19-year-old from Red Star Belgrade in a £5M deal. He wasn’t expected to make an instant impact, but most expected he’d have a role to play as he grew into a star.

So far, things haven’t quite worked out to plan, and half way through his second season at Anfield he’s made just 13 total appearances in all competitions. The talent and promise may still be there, but the longer Grujic goes without seeing regular minutes, the less likely it is that he’ll ever develop it.

Queue talk of the club being ready to send him out on loan in January in the hopes that regular minutes in the second half of the season could see Grujic head into next summer ready to fight for a starting job. And queue rumours that it might not just be a six-month loan Grujic heads off on next month.

Outlets in Turkey, including Turkish Football and Sporx, claim Fenerbahce have had their eye on Grujic since his Red Star days and have had their interest piqued by Liverpool’s willingness to send the player out. Only they don’t just want Grujic for the second half of the season. They want him long-term.

The suggestion is that Fenerbahce will attempt to secure Grujic on an 18-month loan, for a fee, and that if the Turkish club have their way they will also get a purchase option on the player. It would likely have to be both a significant loan fee and option for Liverpool to consider agreeing to do the deal.

That alone makes it seem rather unlikely. Still, it’s expected that Grujic will be available—at least in the short-term—starting next month. And if somebody out there is willing to pay accordingly, it’s not impossible to think Liverpool might consider a permanent sale for the still promising youngster.