How has Liverpool flop Lazar Markovic been getting on this past season?
It is hard to describe just how disappointing Lazar Markovic’s spell at Liverpool was.
He was signed for £20 million from Benfica in 2014 amid competition from Chelsea, and was tipped to develop into a world beater at Anfield.
Neither managers Brendan Rodgers or Jurgen Klopp, two who have earned reputations for helping young talents fulfil their potential, could get a tune out of him.
Markovic scored only three Liverpool goals and was sent out on a series of dismal loans, to Hull City, Fenerbahce, Sporting, and Anderlecht.
This past season he returned to Partizan Belgrade, the club where he began his career.
Promising signs and untapped potential
The move back to Serbia appeared to do Markovic good. For a month or so at least.
He began the season for Partizan Belgrade with a real flourish, scoring three goals in his first two games.
Playing out on the right wing, Markovic finally looked like he was ready to reset his career and start enjoying his football again. Then it all went wrong.
Markovic suffered a torn abductor muscle which meant he was out of action from mid-September through to the end of February.
This saw him miss 12 league matches in total plus four Europa League games, including two against Liverpool’s rivals Manchester United.
Upon his return in February, Markovic scored, and he continued in the team before the season came to a halt, ending with four goals in eight matches overall.
This stop-start season isn’t what Markovic would have wanted, but at least he has played when he has been fit, and he is contributing.
He’s scored more goals in this injury interrupted season than he did in his whole Liverpool career, which pretty much sums up how it all went wrong.
Next season he will be hoping to build on this. At 26, he should have plenty of football left in him.
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