After a wonderfully successful 2019/20 campaign, Jurgen Klopp had the unenviable task of trying to improve upon it.
The German and his side will have certainly been given a wake up call after their 7-2 drubbing at Aston Villa last time out, and with a Merseyside derby against table-toppers and fierce rivals, Everton, next up, the Reds will need no extra motivation.
Thiago Alcantara was signed in order to beef up the Liverpool midfield, whilst Diogo Jota was added to give their attack some competition. Kostas Tsimikas is arguably one for the future.
Of course, with new players coming in to pad out the squad, a handful needed to be shifted, and one of those was highly-rated Marko Grujic.
“Marko had a very regular and consistent year on loan at Hertha Berlin and was at this early stage with us in which he played two official games,” Liverpool coach, Vitor Matos, told O Jogo, cited by the Daily Star.
“He played in both as a No.6 and, despite not being his most natural position, he performed very well.
“He’s a midfielder who feels comfortable in a more positional game, but at the same time has a wide range of space. He has a good tactical culture and that allows him to be versatile in the functions of means in different structures.
“He’s aggressive in tackling and has a natural ability to guide the ball through the interior.
“He was one of Serbia’s greatest talents when he was signed.
“He never got room at Liverpool, due to the options for the positions, and at the same time the market opportunities that arose and allowed him more playing time.”
Whether the player can force his way back into Klopp’s thoughts by the end of the season will likely be determined not only by how good a season he has with Porto, but also how well Liverpool’s current playing staff do in the meantime.
If they continue as they did at Villa Park, then Grujic has every chance.