Liverpool sanction late move for Lazar Markovic

Lazar Markovic has become Liverpool's 19<sup>th summer departure after the Serbian attacker sealed a loan move to Sporting Lisbon on transfer deadline day. The midfielder joined the Reds in 2014 from his current employers' arch rivals Benfica in 2014, but failed to settle at Anfield.

"Sporting Clube de Portugal – Futebol, SAD has reached an agreement with Liverpool FC for the loan of Lazar Markovic until the end of the present sports season," a statement read on Sporting's official site.

The Serbia international made 34 appearances in his first season with the Merseyside club but failed to make an impact scoring just three goals during the course of the season. He spent the duration of the 2015/16 campaign on loan with Fenerbahce, but his spell was cut short due to injury after which he has failed to make a single competitive appearance for Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp had opened the door for the winger to fight his way back into his plans during the Reds' pre-season games, but he failed to impress, which has seen him being sent on yet another loan to Portugal. The 22-year-old will hope to have an injury-free campaign and recapture his form that saw him earn a £20m move to Liverpool.

The manager also made it clear that he would not retain any player that did not have a chance to play regular football with the first-team. This has seen a number of senior squad members offloaded either on a permanent basis or on a season-loan.

"We had a little talk about things. I said at the start of pre-season you will be very welcome and then it's up to you. That is how it is in football. It's a long pre-season and if he wants to come back to Liverpool in July he's welcome. Pre-season is a long time to show what you have and then after this we'll make decisions," the German coach said, as quoted by the Liverpool Echo.