Player gets his wish: Liverpool confirm transfer news in official statement on Friday night

A number of loan departures occurred from Anfield just before last summer’s deadline, and another was confirmed by the club on Friday night.

Liverpool announce Bajcetic’s loan move to Las Palmas

According to liverpoolfc.com, Stefan Bajcetic – whose temporary move to Red Bull Salzburg was ended on Thursday – has completed a loan transfer to Las Palmas for the rest of this season, pending international clearance.

James Pearce reported in The Athletic that the midfielder had become “increasingly keen” to leave the Austrian club after the dismissal of former Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders in December. Bajcetic eventually chose the LaLiga club over a move to FC Porto.

The 20-year-old aims to use this new loan to push for a spot in Arne Slot’s plans at Anfield when he returns to Merseyside for pre-season in the summer.

Stefan Bajcetic has joined Las Palmas on loan for the rest of the season (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Bajcetic set for top-level experience at Las Palmas

While Liverpool was reportedly satisfied with Bajcetic’s progress at Salzburg, the player himself was less pleased with how things were going (The Athletic), with just eight starts across all competitions.

His last brief appearance for the Austrian team came as a five-minute substitute in a 1-4 home loss to Atletico Madrid, which concluded a poor Champions League campaign where they lost seven out of eight matches (and Bajcetic missed the only match they won due to illness).

It’s been nearly two years since the midfielder started for the Reds in a match against Real Madrid in that same competition; since then, his career has been plagued by injury and a failed loan spell at Red Bull Arena.

Hopefully, Bajcetic’s fortunes will improve with his move to Las Palmas, where he will gain exposure to one of Europe’s top leagues and hopefully receive the regular playing time needed at this stage of his career.

Though Diego Martínez’s team currently sits 15th in LaLiga, they have beaten two of Spain’s Champions League teams this season (Girona and Barcelona), most notably securing a 2-1 victory at Camp Nou in late November. They also proved themselves a capable side by drawing at Anfield in pre-season.

Let’s hope the 20-year-old enjoys a solid run of starts with the Canary Islands club and returns to Liverpool in a few months, ready to challenge for a spot in the Reds’ midfield.