Lazar Markovic has been demoted to training with the academy at Kirkby, in a cruel twist in the Serbian’s Liverpool career.
The winger turned down the chance to move to Anderlecht during the summer, where he had spent time on loan in the latter half of the 2017/18 campaign.
The Liverpool Echo reported that whilst most Reds who weren’t called up for international duty were given the week off, the 24-year-old was sent to train with Neil Critchley at the academy.
Markovic’s deadline day £2.9 million move to Anderlecht derailed for undisclosed reasons, although the player himself has stated money was not the deciding factor in opting to stay at Liverpool.
Not having played for the Reds since 2015, it seems as though Markovic may be away from the pitch for a while yet.
However, in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Crewe, Railwaymen boss David Artell saw obvious quality in the Serbian international:
Without a game at the weekend we used the time to take them to Liverpool on Friday,
They trained with Critch’s under-23s and played a game behind closed doors. They had Markovic with them and he was a class above. It was a great experience and the players can really see the benefit of it.
