Man Utd in shock move for Klopp flop

Tom Hancock

• Updated: 14 Apr 2023 16:06 BST
• 2 min read

Liverpool flop Marko Grujic has emerged as a surprise summer transfer target for Manchester United.

The Serbian midfielder was Jurgen Klopp’s first signing as Liverpool manager, but he never made the grade at Anfield, spending most of his time on the Reds’ books away on loan.

Now 26, Grujic has spent the last three seasons with Portuguese giants Porto – who he joined permanently for €9m in the summer of 2021 after an initial loan spell.

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According to the Mirror, Man Utd are interested in bringing Grujic to Old Trafford to give them another versatile option in the middle of the park.

However, Grujic’s history as a Liverpool player could prove problematic: despite failing to establish himself on Merseyside, the former Red Star Belgrade youngster is full of gratitude for how the Reds helped him develop.

In a 2021 interview with The Athletic, he reflected: “I would say my career at Liverpool was successful – not in terms of games played or what I achieved for the club, but I certainly left Liverpool as a much better player than when I first arrived.”

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100 (almost) up

Our Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) model currently rates Grujic at €12.6m – but he does still have three years left to run on his Porto contract, meaning Man Utd may need to offer substantially more to secure his services.

Grujic is five games away from reaching the milestone of 100 appearances for Porto (he featured just 16 times for Liverpool), who he helped to the Champions League quarter-finals in 2020/21.

His impressive club performances earned him a place in Serbia’s squad for the 2022 World Cup, where he came off the bench in a thrilling 3-3 draw with Cameroon.