Stefan Bajcetic‘s role at Salzburg could come into further question after the Liverpool midfielder was unused in their 5-1 loss to Real Madrid on Wednesday.
Bajcetic had been expected to be recalled from his loan at Salzburg this month but, with just over a week left until the transfer window closes, that is no longer the plan.
Instead the Spaniard has stayed as part of the squad under new head coach Thomas Letsch, who replaced Pepijn Lijnders following his sacking in the winter break.
But Letsch gave an indication of his plans for Bajcetic when he oversaw his first competitive game in charge – a must-win Champions League game at Real Madrid.
The 20-year-old was left out of the starting lineup and, with Salzburg suffering a 5-1 defeat that saw them go five goals down before a late consolation, he spent the entire game on the bench.
Letsch started the in-form duo of Nicolas Capaldo and Mads Bidstrup at the base of his midfield, with Lucas Gourna-Douath replacing the former late on as one of five substitutions.
Bajcetic was joined in going unused by Bobby Clark, whose £10 million move to Salzburg in the summer has not earned a key role as of yet.
The nature of their defeat was perhaps expected, and the result confirmed Salzburg’s exit from the Champions League after the league phase.
They were one of three clubs knocked out on Wednesday night, with Girona and Sparta Prague also joining Bologna, Red Star Belgrade, Sturm Graz, RB Leipzig, Slovan Bratislava and Young Boys who had already missed out on the playoffs.
Bajcetic is barely playing
After claims Bajcetic could be recalled and sent elsewhere this winter, with Real Betis among the clubs interested, The Athletic report that he will instead stay at Salzburg.
James Pearce added on X that it was “never the case” that the youngster could swap Salzburg for Betis, and the plan is for him to stay on loan into the summer’s Club World Cup before reporting back to Liverpool in July.
But there should be concerns over his playing time regardless, with only eight starts in his 18 appearances, clocking 890 minutes on the pitch.
He has only started once in the Champions League – that being the opening game of the league phase, a 3-0 loss to Sparta Prague – and only one of the last six games in the Austrian Bundesliga.
The departure of Lijnders could serve as a fresh start, but given the Dutchman’s ties to Bajcetic and Clark it was perhaps likelier that he would be given more opportunities than under a different head coach.
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