Coming off his best month since joining the Reds, former Chelsea target, Lazar Markovic has spoken out on the London club and their manager Jose Mourinho’s decision to nix what looked like at the time an inevitable transfer.
Prior to Markovic moving to Portugal side Benfica, Chelsea were in talks with the Serbian international’s first club Partizan Belgrade about a possible move. Recently, Partzan president Dragan Djuric also revealed Chelsea ultimately passed on the player.
In a complicated ownership scenario, Chelsea did go as far as to negotiate a first right of refusal with Benfica for the then teen. Add to that frequent Markovic sightings at Stamford Bridge, he seemed predestined for Blue.
Yet Mourinho, already warehousing a wealth of young international midfield talent, opted not to sign the young talent for the discount, opening the door for the Reds to meet a higher buyout clause and bring him to Merseyside.
Given that saga, it was a natural talking point, as he spoke to the press, ahead of Liverpool’s semi-final leg for the League Cup.
“I will play this match like every other match and I don’t have to prove or show anything to Mourinho,” claimed Markovic. “That was Mourinho’s opinion.”
Markovic went on to explain, “I signed for Liverpool and I am extremely happy with my decision. Djuric is the ex-president so what he expected is different to what I expected.”
Given that Chelsea already includes fellow Serbian teammates in Branislav Ivanovic and Nemanja Matic, Markovic let that clarify his previous trips to the Bridge, adding, “There was never any pressure from them to sign for Chelsea. Of course, there is more motivation to face Chelsea because of them. I am not sure I will be playing from the start but there is motivation to face them.”
“I spoke to Matic before I signed for Liverpool. He told me that this is the best league and it will take time to adjust, because it took him time too, but I will get used to it. He said it was an extremely good decision.”
Since his Champions League appearance in Basel, Markovic has clearly been on the ascent. “I think the turning point came from myself and with the support of my family. I wasn’t losing trust in myself but I started working harder at Melwood. When you are not achieving what you want to achieve you have to push yourself and improve,”Markovic reflected. “I felt I settled very quickly off the pitch but it took time to settle on it.”
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