Serbia Coach Drulovic Claims Liverpool Move will Help Lazar Markovic Become World Star

Serbia caretaker coach Ljubinko Drulovic has heaped praise and is confident that Benfica youngster Lazar Markovic will grow at Liverpool.

The talented right-footed winger is reportedly nearing a move to Anfield as the Reds have agreed to meet the £20m release clause in his contract. He penned a five-year deal with the Portuguese capital outfit last summer despite interest from Chelsea.

The 20-year-old Serbian impressed at the Estadio da Luz (Stadium of Light), making 49 appearances in all competitions, scoring seven times in the process. Drulovic believes Markovic's move to Liverpool will be fruitful for all parties and will help the player develop into a star at the big stage.

"Markovic made an excellent season at Benfica last year, he evolved a lot. It'll be good for him and Benfica. Going to a very strong league will help him even more to become a major player worldwide," the Daily Mirror quoted Drulovic as saying.

"He's 20 years old and has a long time to play. Markovic could prove to become a very important player in Europe."

Various reports claim that Markovic's arrival at Liverpool could be announced this week, marking their fourth signing of the summer. The former Partizan Belgrade starlet has already featured 12 times for his national team, netting twice so far.

The Merseyside club have signed Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana from Southampton and Emre Can from Bayer Leverkusen.

Brendan Rodgers is also looking to add some attacking personnel as star striker Luis Suarez is set to move to Barcelona.

Meanwhile, former Reds midfielder Dietmar Hamann believes Can is an exciting signing and will fit in well into Rodgers' system.

"What a prospect for Emre Can to come here, work with Brendan and all of these young players and see the improvement Brendan has made with a lot of young players over the last two years," the German told Liverpool's official website.

"Fans should be excited because these are the types of players Brendan wants to work with and gets the best out of. It must be great for a young player. He could be a fantastic fit. Sometimes you've got to be careful not to get too carried away, but he's an exciting prospect and is tremendous business."