Lazar Markovic has been described as ‘one of the biggest signings in the history of signings’ by Partizan Belgrade, just 12 months after he was released on a free by Liverpool.
A man once nicknamed the ‘Balkan Messi’ has made a huge impact since moving back home to Eastern Europe.
Markovic will go down in history as one of the most disappointing players to wear the iconic red shirt of Liverpool this side of the 21st century but it’s fair to say he is thriving away from the spotlight these days.
The one-time Benfica wonderkid joined Partizan for a second spell once the Merseyside giants decided to terminate his £50,000-a-week deal in June 2019.
But, with five goals in just nine Serbian top-flight matches, Markobic has already hit the net as many times this season as he had in the last six combined.
So no wonder Partizan coach Savo Milosevic is thrilled with his impact.
“Lazar is one of the biggest signings in the history of signings, if we take into account where he played and for what money. We can hardly bring a more expensive player into our ranks,” Milosevic tells Novosti.
“We brought him to make a difference.”
And make a difference he certainly has. Markovic was on target again as Partizan battered Mladost 4-1 on Saturday, a result which sees the Belgrade-based outfit consolidate their place in second ahead of Vojvodina.
This is not to say Liverpool made the wrong call in getting rid of a man who failed spectacularly to his £20 million price-tag at Anfield. But you’d need a heart of stone to begrudge Markovic’s success.
It seems that, for him, a step back is also a big step in the right direction after six miserable years.
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