Stefan Bajcetic has been handed a new long-term contract at Liverpool, the club have confirmed.
WHAT HAPPENED? The Spanish midfielder has signed a new contract with Liverpool that will keep him there through the year 2027. The club extended the agreement with the then-18-year-old player after he broke into the senior squad. GOAL can reveal that negotiations between the club and the player have been going on since the summer. The Reds are eager to reward Bajcetic for his progression from a youth player to a first-team option, and they want to give him a new contract.
THE BIGGER PICTURE:This season, Jurgen Klopp’s club has been looking for a spark in the middle of the field, and Bajcetic stepped up to the challenge with brilliant displays against Wolves in the FA Cup and Chelsea in the Premier League. The young player, who was signed away from Celta Vigo in the year 2020, is one of the examples that Liverpool’s head of academy recruiting, Matt Newberry, cites as evidence of the club’s very successful recruitment efforts for players between the ages of 15 and 18. In addition, this includes players like Ben Doak, Bobby Clark, and Melkamu Frauendorf, all of whom have been a part of the first team squad, as well as Trent Kone-Doherty, who has been performing well with the under-18 team. Most crucially, the midfielder will now be able to qualify as a “club-trained” player, which will make room on the Champions League squad list for a non-homegrown contender.
WHAT DID THEY SAY? “It’s crazy,” he told Liverpool’s official website. “A year ago I was playing U18s football and now I’ve started some games, made my debut and even scored a goal – that was something I never expected to happen this year.
“It’s amazing to see how fast it went. But I keep working hard and hopefully [there are] more things to come.”
IN TWO PHOTOS:
DID YOU KNOW? Bajcetic’s first league appearance was a 21-minute cameo in Liverpool’s 9-0 win against Bournemouth in September. Subsequently, he featured in a Boxing Day win against Aston Villa and also got on the scoresheet to repay the trust shown in him by Klopp.
WHAT NEXT FOR BAJCETIC? The midfielder will hope that he gets to start when Liverpool take on Brighton in a fourth-round FA Cup ᴄʟᴀsʜ on Sunday.