Liverpool continues to be associated with defensive midfielders, after missing out on three in recent years.
Stefan Bajcetic’s meteoric ascension at Liverpool last year was so dramatic that the teenager was still classified as an Academy defender on the club’s official website while playing as a senior midfielder.
Bajcetic was praised for his versatility when he joined Liverpool as a 16-year-old from Celta Vigo in late 2020, but nearly four years later, the likelihood of him playing centre-back at Anfield feels remote.
Instead, there will be a discussion with new head coach Arne Slot about what type of role he can play in the center of the park going ahead, with Bajcetic capable of playing as both a No.6 and a No.8, in modern parlance.
“We put him in a new position,” Jurgen Klopp remarked of Bajcetic following a 2-0 victory against Everton in February last year. “I don’t think he’d ever played in this position before. He came here as a kid as a centre-half and has since played as a No.6 in a few games, No.8 tonight, and a double six in many others. He did exceptionally well. To be honest, it was a pretty excellent performance.
Bajcetic is capable of playing further forward, running beyond opposing midfield, and supplying attacking players, making him a slightly more advanced and multi-functional midfielder, but his true future lies at the base of the engine room, both short and long-term.
Bajcetic first appeared on the scene in early 2023, establishing himself as an essential component of a struggling and confidence-shattered squad at the time, but he has since gone through a tumultuous 15 months on his own.
Long-term injuries, attributed to developing issues, have severely slowed progress for the £250,000 signing, but he has showed enough prior to the initial setback, at Bournemouth in March 2023, to be optimistic about the likelihood of a fully-fit summer season.
Bajcetic cut short his own summer schedule to work at the club’s AXA Training Centre earlier this month, hoping to come in peak shape for pre-season and impress the club’s new coaches.
For more than two years, Liverpool has been open about their hunt for a top-tier defensive midfielder. From losing Aurelien Tchouameni to Real Madrid in 2022 to watching Moises Caicedo and then Romeo Lavia choose Chelsea instead last summer, the Reds have spent a long time looking for someone to anchor the midfield.
The choice to switch to then-30-year-old Wataru Endo was a dramatic departure from precedent and strategy last August, but the plan to continue scouting the market for a younger talent with a larger ceiling continues.
Some eyes may roll at the concept, but Bajcetic could be the solution to that specific dilemma if he is given the opportunity to demonstrate it under Slot. The important thing the teenager needs to focus on right now is reestablishing himself in the eyes of the Liverpool manager. Or, as it stands now, the head coach.
Bajcetic gained Klopp’s implicit faith because of how quickly he progressed during their time together, and he once reflected on his improvement by saying: “There was a door – I’m not even sure it was open – but he ran through it and he was really exceptional.”
The Spanish youth international has only made three appearances since his season was cut short in that aforementioned visit to Bournemouth, but the evidence presented before to that incident assures that the hype surrounding the teenager continues.
Another midfielder who could assist alleviate the strain on a squad without a world-class quality at ‘6’ is Ryan Gravenberch, whose skill set has seen him play there numerous times before.
Gravenberch’s rangy, athletic approach was initially lauded by Klopp and his staff as having the potential to shape him into a defensive midfielder, but there was little evidence of that during a mixed debut season on Merseyside.
Former Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel cited a lack of No.8s in his 4-2-3-1 system as the reason Gravenberch struggled for significant game time during his one season in the Bundesliga, but the Dutch youngster served as a defensive screen for nearly half of his final season at Ajax. Of the 2331 minutes played in 2021/22, up to 40% came in the No.6 position.
At 22, Slot’s age and tactical versatility may allow him to resume a role Gravenberch got familiar with during his early years, when he established himself as one of the Eredivisie’s best youthful talents.
