Stefan Bajcetic next challenge obvious before new Liverpool manager appointed

In what has been a season to forget for Stefan Bajcetic, the first tentative step towards an exciting future was taken at Old Trafford on Friday evening.

Having established himself as a first-team member during his impressive breakout campaign of last term, when he featured 19 times for Jurgen Klopp's side, it's been a tale largely of woe for the teenager over the past year or so.

An adductor muscle injury, sustained 13 months ago in a 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth, has had a huge impact on Bajcetic's growth as a player and having successfully remodelled their engine room in the summer months with the signings of Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch, Liverpool have been careful to take their time with the youngster since.

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Bajcetic's only start since that loss at Bournemouth on March 11, 2023 came as a right-back in the 3-1 win at LASK in the first game of the Europa League group stages way back in September.

It was a run-out that lasted an hour before he added a further 11 minutes to the overall tally in the victory over Leicester City in the League Cup later that month. Seventy-two minutes of football in 13 months suggests there is time to make up for as far as the combative Spaniard is concerned.

So it will have been seen as a major step forward for Bajcetic on Friday as he played his part in a Liverpool U21s side that dismantled their Manchester United hosts 3-0 in the Premier League 2.

Having been given the chance to return to the senior squad for Thursday's 3-0 defeat to Atalanta in the first leg of their Europa League