Lazar Markovic to line-up for Liverpool next season

Liverpool, 10/1 to win the Premier League this season, have bounced back from striker Luis Suarez’s departure by snapping up Serbian star Lazar Markovic for £20m, who was also reportedly coveted by Chelsea.

After sanctioning such a significant outlay on a youngster from the Portuguese League, Coral writers discuss whether the former Benfica man will join a succession of disappointing widemen for the Premier League giants in recent times.

Markovi, 20, is Brendan Rodgers’ fourth summer signing, and will link up with fellow new Reds recruits Emre Can, Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert, in what looks to be a significant squad rebuild at Anfield, with further acquisitions expected.

So far, Rodgers has acquired a mixture of solid, if unspectacular, experienced players in ex-Southampton duo Lallana and Lambert, and unproven potential in Can, and now Markovic. Whilst these additions seem smart, they do lack the sprinkling of stardust that was present in Suarez, with Liverpool needing a player who can immediately take over his mantle, and inspire the Reds to greater heights.

Rodgers reportedly suffered disappointment over Alexis Sanchez, who decided to opt for Arsenal, fails to lure that all-important, morale-boosting, marquee signing, much expectation will be placed upon young Markovic’s shoulders.
A youth product from the famed Partizan Belgrade academy, the former Benfica winger will compete with the Reds’ own youth starlet Raheem Sterling for a wide spot.

The England whizz’s form last season helped ease what has been a problem area for Liverpool, following on from underwhelming wingers such as Stewart Downing. The wideman, now at West Ham United, became a source of mirth for failing to provide a single league goal or assist in his first season at the club.

Current lacklustre wide forward Iago Aspas is already set for an Anfield exit, securing a loan to Sevilla after having only made 14 league appearances for the Reds. The Spaniard heads a long line of Liverpool midfield misfits, including Albert Riera and Joe Cole, who never fully realised their talents at the club.

What sets Markovic apart from his predecessors, however, is the amount of success he has enjoyed at such a young age. He won a domestic treble with Benfica last term, which allowed him to continue a promising Zlatan Ibrahimovic-esque winning streak, as he added another hat-trick of medals to his two successive league crowns with Partizan.