Realistic Expectations for Marko Grujic at Liverpool in 2016/17

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has spent the summer reshaping his squad, with a plethora of incomings sanctioned to negotiate a busy departure list—including three high-profile acquisitions in Joel Matip, Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum, and another sealed in January in Serbian midfielder Marko Grujic.

The German has seen Christian Benteke, Joe Allen and Jordon Ibe front a 10-strong exodus from his senior ranks so far, with Liverpool recouping up to £80.5 million in funds, leaving them in the black at this stage.

Three games into the 2016/17 campaign, and Mane is the headline name, with the Senegalese arguably Liverpool’s best player in wins over Arsenal in the Premier League and Burton Albion in the second round of the new-look EFL Cup.

Adjusting to life on Merseyside immediately following a £30 million move from Southampton, Mane looks poised to take up a focal role in Klopp’s attack this season, and The Anfield Wrap’s Gareth Roberts argued the case for him to take up the mantle as the Reds’ headline act in the immediate aftermath of victory in Burton:

The likelihood is Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana among others will all benefit from his presence. The opposition can’t mark everyone, and it could herald a possible throwback to the “let them worry about us” approach of old. That seems more likely than a sudden upturn in meanness at the back.

Can we rely on Mane? Can he be a star? Let’s say yes to both.

This will no doubt benefit those around him in terms of dampening expectation, and if Mane continues to thrive, Klopp can hope for some of his lesser-known names to continue their positive development this season.

One such player has flown under the radar as Klopp has welcomed new additions to Merseyside this summer, with Grujic little more than a footnote as the Reds begin their 2016/17 campaign.

But what can supporters expect from Grujic this season? Here, we outline realistic ambitions for the young midfielder, as he works under the glow of Mane, Wijnaldum, Matip and Klopp’s more established stars.

Grujic became the first signing of Klopp’s Liverpool reign at the beginning of January, with the Reds brokering a £5.1 million deal with Serbian SuperLiga side Red Star Belgrade, agreeing to allow the youngster to stay with his boyhood club for the remainder of the 2015/16 campaign.

After a lengthy spell that saw Grujic linked with the likes of AS Roma, Chelsea and most prominently Inter Milan, according to the Liverpool Echo’s James Pearce in December, his capture was lauded by Klopp in an interview with the club’s official website:

[I am] very pleased because Marko is a big talent and we’ve seen him a lot of times. When I came here, our scouts showed me some footage of a very skilled player from Red Star Belgrade. We watched …

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