A former player for Liverpool who took Jurgen Klopp’s treatment “personally” has now joined his eighth club in ten years, continuing his restless lifestyle.
Jurgen Klopp, the former manager of Liverpool, was known for his amazing relationships with his players, but he was also regarded as a brilliant tactician. However, in one or two of his cases, tension did arise.
Most of the time, Klopp made sure the team at Anfield was far more than the sum of its parts by getting the very best performance out of his players. That being said, the players were undoubtedly of the highest caliber, and those who fell short of expectations had to be dropped in the end.
Klopp took over in 2015, inheriting a somewhat dismal team. Some, like Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, and Adam Lallana (during Trent Alexander-Arnold’s Academy days), would go on to become important players far into the German’s stay, but others went without ever getting a look-in.
under example, Mario Balotelli was never going to play under Klopp. Even though Christian Benteke managed to finish the season with Liverpool, Firmino quickly overshadowed him, making it his one and only season in the Red.
There was Lazar Markovic after that. He was a regular under Brendan Rodgers for a while after being signed from Benfica for $26 million (£20 million/€24 million) in 2014. Who can forget the Europa League red card?
However, Klopp had already slipped down the Anfield hierarchy and was on a season-long loan to Fenerbahce in Turkey when he arrived. And if he was hoping for a new beginning under the new manager, that didn’t happen, as Liverpool wanted to offload Markovic as soon as possible.
It was difficult to come to a permanent agreement, so Markovic spent the next season on two additional loans, one to Sporting CP and the other to Hull City. He did not receive a chance despite his somewhat impressive performance during his return to the Premier League, and he left for Anderlecht (again on loan) in the middle of the 2017–18 season.
When Markovic was in Belgium, he lost all control over his annoyance. He scored for Anderlecht and then sent a message to Klopp and the team officials.
He told DH, via Sport Witness, “It’s to show that I’m still the same player, to show the people at Liverpool that they can’t treat me that way.” “Yes, you can take it personally if they refuse to let you go because they’re demanding an excessive transfer payment.”
His only goal with the Belgian team turned out to be that one. He finally left Liverpool when he signed a free transfer to Fulham. But he didn’t play much, and after his brief contract in West London ended, he went back to Partizan, his old team.
Markovic found greater success there, and he stayed for three years before relocating to Gaziantep, Turkey. He was loaned out again while he was there, this time to Trabzonspor, because his parent club had withdrew from the division as a result of an earthquake.
According to the ECHO, FC Baniyas of Abu Dhabi has recently announced the signing of Markovic, making it nine clubs in a decade. I wish him success, but it seems like time has validated Klopp’s assessment.
