Stefan Bajcetic: Father says youngster 'lucky' to get Liverpool chance

Stefan Bajcetic has been ‘lucky’ to get the opportunity to make such an early breakthrough at Liverpool according to his father, but he’s determined to make the most of it.

The 18-year-old became one of Liverpool’s youngest ever Premier League goalscorers when he scored in their 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Boxing Day, just seconds after coming off the bench.

Bajcetic joined Liverpool in December 2020 from Celta Vigo and has featured sporadically for the Reds this season. It is all happening for him a lot sooner than he and his father expected, but the ambition of making a big impact was always there.

“We didn’t expect this to happen this year,” Srdan Bajcetic told AS of this son’s breakthrough. “He was lucky that a lot of people were injured in midfield and from the beginning, he started training with the first team.

“He has taken it as a challenge, he is very ambitious, and he has achieved it.

“He has a very good relationship with Klopp’s assistant; Pepjin Lijnders, who is a Dutch guy who speaks Spanish; and with another Portuguese guy, Vítor Matos, who is the link between the youth team and the first team.”

Srdan, who was also a professional player and now youth coach at Celta Viga, thanked Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp for the belief he has shown in Bajcetic.

“They really went for Stefan and Klopp confirmed what they saw,” he explained. “Klopp makes light of any match, puts no pressure on them and has the courage to put them in.

“He brought Stefan on in 79 minutes with the score tight and took off Henderson, an England international.”