The next Serbian wonder kid is already on the assembly line. Red Star Belgrade’s Marko Grujic, a central midfielder is the next player who is expected to make a big name for himself and already has been linked with a deal with Liverpool. Celtic are also tracking the growth of the 19-year-old who has become a regular for the first team of Red Star.
Another star like Vidic or a false dawn like Markovic?
Red Star do have a great history of producing great talent, Nemanja Vidic and Dejan Stankovic, just to name a few and Grujic has been part of the team since joining them in their youth setup. The youngster was also part of the Serbian U20 team that won the World Cup in New Zealand.
The 19-year-old already has scored 5 goals in 20 appearances this season and has helped Red Star challenge for the League title. There was talk about him joining Liverpool in January but that was rebuffed as he wants to stay at Red Star for a little longer.
“I’ll try to respect the club, the fans and the general public, but again I think that for myself I have to choose the best environment where I get the chance to play and where I work with good coaches in good conditions. It is certain that I remain here until the end of qualifying for the Champions League. I had a talk with Liverpool but I did not receive yet any agreement. I’m still a Red Star player.”
Grujic plays mostly in central midfield and has a great range of passing. It is his ability to find the right pass which makes him standout and is a great team player as well. He is known for his long range shooting and that does translate into a few goals for the Red Star player.
Grujic loves to pick the ball up from deep positions and start the attack, his vision and technique is incredible for someone this young and aides his ability in playing a more creative and controlling role for the team.
He still has a long way to go but based on his ability at the moment he is ready to take up a larger role for a bigger team. He does have all the talent to become one of the brightest players in his age group at least, but there are a few kinks in the armour which will get ironed out as the years go by.
Would he star for a Premier League club at the moment? Probably not but if he goes out on loan and tries his ability in the Championship, he could well get the experience needed to do better and then make a move to play in the Premier League soon.