Marko Grujić
 | |||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Marko Grujić[1] | ||||||||
| Date of birth | 13 April 1996 | ||||||||
| Place of birth | Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia | ||||||||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||||||||
| Club information | |||||||||
Current team | Liverpool | ||||||||
| Number | 16 | ||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||
| 2005–2013 | Red Star Belgrade | ||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||
| 2013–2016 | Red Star Belgrade | 31 | (5) | ||||||
| 2014 | → Kolubara (loan) | 5 | (2) | ||||||
| 2016– | Liverpool | 2 | (0) | ||||||
| 2016 | → Red Star Belgrade (loan) | 8 | (1) | ||||||
| National team‡ | |||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Serbia U16 | 4 | (2) | ||||||
| 2012 | Serbia U17 | 1 | (1) | ||||||
| 2014–2015 | Serbia U19 | 3 | (0) | ||||||
| 2015 | Serbia U20 | 7 | (0) | ||||||
| 2015– | Serbia U21 | 5 | (0) | ||||||
| 2016– | Serbia | 3 | (0) | ||||||
Honours
| |||||||||
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 02:35, 25 September 2016 (UTC). | |||||||||
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Marko Grujić (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Грујић, Serbian pronunciation: [mârːko ɡru:jt͡ɕ]; born 13 April 1996) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Liverpool and the Serbia national team.
A native of Belgrade, Grujić started his career with his hometown club Red Star Belgrade, progressing through their youth system to the first team squad. He made his professional debut in 2013, and won the SuperLiga title in his final season with Red Star before completing a £5.1 million move to Liverpool.
Grujić is a Serbian international, and represented Serbia at every youth level from under-16 upwards before making his full international debut in May 2016. He was part of the Serbian side which won the 2015 U-20 World Cup.
Club career
Red Star Belgrade
Grujić was born in Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia (now Serbia) and is a product of Red Star Belgrade, where he went through the youth program, passed all categories and was the captain of his generation. He made his professional debut for Red Star on 26 May 2013, in a Serbian SuperLiga match versus Vojvodina.[2]
On May 17, 2015, Grujić signed a three-year contract with Red Star to last until 2018.[3] Grujić scored his first senior goal on 26 September 2015 against Novi Pazar in a 2–0 victory; he also assisted Aleksandar Katai for the second goal.[4] Grujić was a part of an unprecedented run of Red Star victories, as the club set a new record for the number of consecutive victories (19), ending the first half of the season without defeat.[5]
Liverpool
Throughout autumn, Grujić was scouted by a number of high-profile European teams, including Liverpool, Internazionale, Juventus, Chelsea, and Milan. Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp called Grujić personally to convince him to switch to Anfield, but initially Grujić's father was against his son moving to Liverpool.[6] Klopp's assistant, Željko Buvač, flew to Belgrade to speak with Grujić and on 6 January 2016, it was confirmed that Grujić completed his move to Premier League side Liverpool, signing a five-year deal for a reported fee of £5.1 million.[7][8] Upon joining, Grujić hailed Klopp for convincing him to join and told the press, "I would choose Liverpool over Real Madrid and Barcelona."[9]
He was immediately loaned back to Red Star until the end of the season for a fee of £740,000, and won the SuperLiga with Red Star while on loan. Grujić finished the season with 29 appearances, 6 goals, 7 assists and was voted into the SuperLiga Team of the Year for his contribution to Red Star's unbeaten season.
On 20 August 2016, Grujić made his Premier League debut for Liverpool in a 2–0 loss against Burnley, coming on in the place of Adam Lallana in the 78th minute.[10]
International career
Grujić represented Serbia at all youth levels from under-16 to under-21, and was a member of the Serbia squad that won the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.[11]
In May 2016, Grujić made his full international debut for the Serbia national team after coming on in place of Nemanja Matić in a 2–1 win against Cyprus.[12]
Style of play
Standing at 6-foot-3-inches (1.91 m), Grujić has been described as "tall, rangy, comfortable on the ball and with a good range of passing" and dubbed the "new Matić" because of his likeness in both appearance and position to fellow Serbian defensive midfielder Nemanja Matić.[11] He has also been compared to Premier League players Yaya Touré and Patrick Vieira, with his large stature and athleticism making him "quick to reach both penalty areas without ever seeming to be reaching top speed".[13]
Statistics
Club
- As of match played 24 September 2016[14]
| Club | Season | Division | League | Cup | League Cup | Europe | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Red Star | 2012–13 | Serbian SuperLiga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2014–15 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |||
| 2015–16 | 29 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 30 | 6 | |||
| Total | 39 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 6 | ||
| Kolubara (loan) | 2014–15 | Serbian First League | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 2 | ||
| Total | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | ||
| Liverpool | 2016–17 | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Career Total | 46 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 8 | ||
International
| Serbia national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2016 | 3 | 0 |
| Total | 3 | 0 |
Honours
Club
- Red Star Belgrade
- Serbian SuperLiga (1): 2015–16
International
- Serbia
- FIFA U-20 World Cup (1): 2015
References
- ↑ "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
- ↑ Војводина - Црвена звезда 3:0 (1:0). Red Star Belgrade official website (in Serbian). 26 May 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2014.
- ↑ Radio Televizija Vojvodine: Grujić i Jović do 2018. u Zvezdi (Serbian) 17 May 2015
- ↑ "Red Star vs Novi Pazar report". onefootball.com.
- ↑ Michael Yokhin (December 15, 2015). "ESPN: Miodrag 'The Count' Bozovic breaking records at Red Star Belgrade". Retrieved February 24, 2016.
- ↑ Aleksandar Radonić (December 23, 2015). "OTAC MARKA GRUJIĆA EKSKLUZIVNO ZA KURIR: Terziću, ne diraj mi sina" (in Serbian). Retrieved February 24, 2016.
- ↑ Bell, Tom (6 January 2016). "Marko Grujic confirmed as Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp's first signing". ESPN FC. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
- ↑ "Marko Grujic: Liverpool sign Red Star Belgrade midfielder". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ↑ Lusby, Jack. "Marko Grujic reveals his Liverpool role, hints at Lazar Markovic's future - This Is Anfield". This Is Anfield. Retrieved 2016-02-24.
- ↑ Bevan, Chris (20 August 2016). "Burnley 2–0 Liverpool". BBC.com. BBC. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- 1 2 "Who is Marko Grujic? We profile Liverpool signing". skysports.com.
- ↑ http://www.fss.rs/index.php?id=2021&aid=10348
- ↑ "Marko Grujic: Meet Liverpool's new Serbian World Cup winner". fourfourtwo.com.
- ↑ "Marko Grujić". soccerway.com.