Liverpool faces familiar problem $140m transfer bid showed but Stefan Bajčetić can be ideal fix

Last summer, the Liverpool midfield was the focus for Jürgen Klopp and Jörg Schmadtke. With Fabinho and Jordan Henderson having physically declined, there was a necessity to bring in fresh legs.

In Alexis Mac Allister, Liverpool found a relative transfer bargain. He has looked jaded in recent weeks but the Argentine has had an excellent debut season overall. Dominik Szoboszlai tailed off a long time before that but the Hungarian made a promising start and Ryan Gravenberch showed flashes without fully bringing all of the many elements of his game together.

Those three were all logical and typical Liverpool transfer moves who are all young enough to grow further into their roles. But in Wataru Endō, the Reds took a different approach in the market and spent around $21m (£16m/€19m) on a largely untested (in a Premier League-title chasing sense) player older than usually looked at, given he was 30 years old.

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Liverpool went big for Moisés Caicedo, offering $140m (£111m/€129m) for the Ecuadorian who ultimately ended up at Chelsea, and Declan Rice had already made the move to Arsenal. But it was clear from bidding so much that a number six was on the list for what Klopp and Schmadtke wanted, and apparent that the money was there for the right player.

Endō, though he has been far better than most Liverpool fans could have imagined, is not someone who looks to be a long-term solution on the basis that he will turn 32 in the middle of next season. He got a four-year contract when he arrived, but isn't going to be around forever and succession planning will need to take place.

The returning Stefan Bajčetić will be a big part of that, of course. The Spanish youth international is a hugely talented midfielder who should play a big part under Arne Slot next season. But if Liverpool signs a midfielder this summer — and it should be considered as a means of stopping teams playing through it quite so easily — it would make sense to be someone who is an elite number six.

As well as Mac Allister, Szoboszlai and Gravenberch, Liverpool already has Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott who can play as number eights. Mac Allister can play deeper as well, but he needs to be in peak physical condition for that to work, as the game against Aston Villa showed. In that one, it looked like he had played a few too many times. There is growing evidence he is better further forward.

The only profile that the Liverpool midfield is missing is a Rodri or a Rice. But having missed out on Caicedo last summer, where else are the elite options in that position? It is one thing having shown itself to be willing to splash the cash, but quite another to see where that player might come from.

In 2022, Liverpool missed out to Real Madrid on Aurélien Tchouaméni and Eduardo Camavinga is already at the Bernabéu. PSG signed Manuel Ugarte last summer, but according to L'Equipe, is already willing to let him leave (potentially on loan) because the move hasn't worked out as well as planned yet. He was seen as the best of the next level down of number six options after the $100m-plus ones, but that seemingly hasn't proven true — at least not yet.

The dearth of world-class options to play holding midfield means that Liverpool cannot simply throw money at the problem, even if a number six would appear to be a position that could do with strengthening with one eye on the long term. But without a transfer fix, it does at least have Bajčetić to turn to as an option to continue to develop. He can't be over-played after being out injured for so long, but he is a talent with a ceiling that suggests he could become exactly what Liverpool needs.