When Lazar Markovic completed his move to Liverpool from Benfica couple of years back, many Reds were unaware of his talent.
But those who had watched him play at Benfica and Partizian had praised the Anfield club for signing the Serbian and also warned not to expect the young lad to settle quickly in the Premier League.
Out of position
In his first season at Liverpool, Markovic started in just 19 league games, where he was given the wing-back role in the majority of those games.
Markovic, who played mostly as a number ten or a second striker at Benfica, was given the right wing-back role in Liverpool by Brendan Rodgers at the club’s lowest point of the season where the Reds were struggling in the Premier League.
Liverpool fans were expecting a lot from a young attacking minded player coming from a different league, who was getting less playing time and playing out of position.
Fenerbahce fan-favorite
Markovic was then sent on loan to Turkish giants Fenerbahce for the 2015/16 season.
But several injuries hampered his performances, as he managed just 14 appearances for the club. However, he created 14 goalscoring opportunities for the Turkish side despite his limited playing time.
He was influential whenever and wherever he played. To find out how good he was for them, one should check their Facebook and Twitter accounts and see how frustrated their fans were seeing Markovic leaving.
You can’t become a favorite at any club without convincing fans of your quality.
Markovic, who has every ingredient to fit in Klopp’s system, is very young and handling his development patiently can see us creating a top class attacker.
Plenty of talent in his locker
Markovic has lightning speed, ton of skills, and doesn’t afraid to take on players and dribble past them.
He can play on either flanks and as a second striker as well. He can cover Mane, Coutinho and even Firmino whenever possible.
Mane will go to the AFCON, so the Serbian can fill his void as we already have seen Markovic creating scoring chances — he was the club’s most efficient creator during the pre-season.
In need of playing time — either as a starter or as a supersub
With proper playing time, he can be developed into a fine attacker, and Klopp can help him reach his potential.
We’re better off giving him enough playing time or even bringing him on at the 75th or 80th minute and let him do his thing — he offers something different.
Markovic is direct and can be used as a tricky substitute against teams who love to stay deep.
He can be used as a supersub against such teams like Burnley for example, against whom we have always struggled.
In need of time and patience
Markovic has all the talent in the world and with enough playing time under a good manager such as Klopp, then he should be able to reach his potential.
At this moment, he just needs confidence from his manager and patience from the fans. Hopefully, his loan spell and return to Portugal can aid him in that regard.
If he can get both of that and prove himself once more on loan at Sporting, then Markovic can be a huge hit at Anfield.
Written by Prabin Bikram
Follow Prabin on Twitter @prabinLFC
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