Liverpool told Real Sociedad they can have one player on-loan as part of the Martin Zubimendi deal

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Liverpool are assessing what to do next in the transfer market after missing out on their top target.

The Reds have been slow to get going in the summer window this year and are running the risk of failing to make a first-team signing.

While the Liverpool squad is in a good place, that would be a clear failure from the Reds recruitment team and would leave Arne Slot with work to do right from the off.

Had their pursuit of Martin Zubimendi come off, things would have been markedly different. Liverpool believed that Zubimendi had given his word that he was coming to Anfield.

But as the fallout continues after the Spaniard reversed his initial decision, more details of the potential deal are starting to emerge.

Liverpool offered Stefan Bajcetic on-loan

Liverpool were clearly very keen on getting the deal for Zubimendi over the line. And the fact that he had a release clause in his contract seemingly made it straight-forward enough for them.

However, with Zubimendi starting to drag his feet, it became clear that Real Sociedad were going to play hardball, too.

As a result, it seems that Liverpool began to look for other ways to appease the Basque club and make Zubimendi’s sale more palatable.

And according to journalist Fabrizio Romano, one way for the Reds to do this was by offering them the chance to sign Stefan Bajcetic on-loan.

READ MORE: Martin Zubimendi rejection has given £34m man a big unexpected chance at Liverpool

Speaking on his YouTube channel on Tuesday evening, Romano claimed that Liverpool and Real Sociedad discussed the possibility of Bajcetic moving to Anoeta as part of the deal.

“Let me tell you something behind the scenes of this story,” says the journalist. “At one point in the conversation they also discussed the possibility to include Stefan Bajcetic as part of the negotiation. There was a possibility to include him in the deal on loan.

“But Liverpool preferred to pay the release clause,” Romano adds.

“Everything collapsed immediately in terms of a swap deal because Real Sociedad only wanted to keep Martin Zubimendi and they were successful.”

Stefan Bajcetic future remains unclear

Had La Real been more open to letting Zubimendi leave, then there are many reasons why this would have made sense for both clubs.

Bajcetic is the closest thing to Zubimendi that Liverpool have in their squad. You could see how the 19-year-old would have slotted into Sociedad’s team.

It’s also abundantly clear that after 18 months wrecked by injury, Bajcetic needs to play football. Down the pecking order at Anfield, he isn’t going to get enough of it at Liverpool.

As a result, it has since emerged that Liverpool are willing to loan Bajcetic out in order for him to play more football.

As a Spaniard, perhaps Real Sociedad would have been the perfect place for him to do that. This would have had a lot of upside for everyone, but it ultimately couldn’t get off the ground.