Stefan Bajcetic has been linked to making a mid-season loan switch this month, but on Monday he was subbed on and off for Salzburg in a heavy friendly defeat.
Over the weekend reports emerged that La Liga side Real Betis were in “advanced talks” to sign Bajcetic on loan for the remainder of the 2024/25 season.
There had been growing question marks over the midfielder’s short-term future after Pep Lijnders was sacked after just six months at the helm, though Liverpool would have to break the loan deal.
The Mail‘s Simon Jones, albeit not the strongest of sources, has since claimed that the Reds’ “current plan” is for the 20-year-old to see out the season in Austria.
It is perhaps why he was involved for Salzburg in their 6-0 friendly defeat to Bayern Munich on Monday, just days after the Austrian side returned from their winter break.
Led by new coach Thomas Letsch, Salzburg changed their XI at halftime and that saw Bajcetic introduced with the score at 3-0 in favour of Vincent Kompany’s Bayern.
The Liverpool midfielder would only play 35 minutes before being subbed off, he was one of three players to be subbed on and off – currently, there is no indication it was due to injury.
According to FotMob, the 20-year-old had 20 touches during his cameo – more than six teammates who played 45 minutes – and completed 10 accurate passes from an attempted 14.
Bajcetic has featured 18 times for Salzburg this season – nine starts for a total of 890 minutes – and links to Real Betis were accompanied by reports that he is motivated by regular game time.
It remains to be seen if a loan switch will come to fruition, but we could know more when Salzburg travel to Portugal on Thursday for their winter training camp ahead of their competitive return on January 22 against Real Madrid.
If you are wondering about Bobby Clark after his permanent move in the summer, he was one of five players ruled out of the friendly due to illness.
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