There are conflicting reports over the fee for Marko Grujic. Liverpool should still get their full amount, however.
The BBC claim Liverpool have sold Marko Grujic to FC Porto for £10.5m. That seems straightforward enough. It brings an end to the Serbian’s time with the Reds, having initially signed in January 2016.
In fact, Grujic was Jurgen Klopp’s first signing as Liverpool boss. It appeared he had a bright future with the club but he never really got going.
Instead, Grujic went off on loan but could never find room in the squad on his return. It’s a shame – we think he could have been a good player here in a different era.
But it seems he’s finally done with Liverpool and on his own career path. Or does it?
Reports in Portugal claim this is actually another loan deal. O Jogo says Grujic has signed for Porto on a year-long loan but this time with an obligation to buy for £10.5m at the end.
So it’s not exactly clear whether Grujic remains on Liverpool’s books or not. Fortunately, they should get their money either way.
Confusion over Marko Grujic fee
A couple of questions remain, though. Firstly, should this be taken as a guarantee that Liverpool get that cash?
We can’t imagine there’s a way Porto get out of it but what if they can’t afford it in a year? The world isn’t exactly a straightforward place at the moment and another year without fans could leave them short.
That’s less of a worry, though. We imagine Liverpool will get the cash.
A bigger question is when they get it. The Athletic reported after the Ibrahima Konate deal that Liverpool must sell before buying more players this summer.
So with that in mind, does the Grujic money count towards purchases already? If it’s guaranteed, then it might as well. But at the same time, Liverpool wouldn’t actually have it yet.
We imagine we’ll get an answer to that one over the next few weeks. If Liverpool do enter the market for another player, we can probably assume they’ve got that money.