'Exciting' Liverpool youngster set to exit and join Pep Lijnders in the Champions League

Liverpool midfielder Stefan Bajcetic is close to agreeing a move to join RB Salzburg on loan.

The 19-year-old was heavily involved in Arne Slot’s pre-season after missing the majority of last season but instead of remaining in the first-team squad, he will earn valuable minutes in Austria with Jurgen Klopp’s former assistant Pep Lijnders.

Fabrizio Romano confirmed an exit is near and a medical will be completed ahead of a season-long loan deal. ‘RB Salzburg are set to complete final details of loan deal for Stefan Bajcetic from Liverpool today.’ He wrote on X. Interestingly, there will be a reunion for him as fellow academy graduate Bobby Clark recently completed a £10m move earlier this summer.

Given that Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch are the options for Slot in that deep-lying midfield role, Bajcetic was unlikely to receive regular game time and after a season out of action, a year playing regularly is certainly more important. He will also get the chance to play in the Champions League, as Lijnders enjoyed a brilliant two-legged tie victory over Dynamo Kiev after previously beating FC Twente 5-4 on aggregate in what was a great start to life in management for the Dutchman.

In the early knockings of last season, Lijnders took a press conference ahead of one of Liverpool’s early cup games and waxed lyrical about Bajcetic who, at the time, had just come off that incredibly exciting breakthrough campaign. “Stefan is this player who last year, from a coach’s point of view, played on the six and was just exciting, no?

“Because he plays passes, dictates the game in a different way to Alexis or other midfielders we had. He’s this proper, proper talent, so you want to see him in the middle of the pitch. So it would not make sense to just play him as a right-back and use him as a right-back like in the past or whatever.”