Spartak Moscow 'express interest' in ending Lazar Markovic's Liverpool nightmare

One of Liverpool's forgotten players could finally be about to seal a long overdue departure from Anfield, with reports stating that Russian champions Spartak Moscow have communicated an interest in signing Lazar Markovic this month.

That is according to the Liverpool Echo, who claim that the Reds are once again open to offers for the lesser-spotted winger, also linked with Aston Villa, who has long since been deemed as surplus to requirements by Jurgen Klopp.

Signed for a £20m ($28.4m) fee from Benfica by Klopp's predecessor Brendan Rodgers in the summer of 2014, Markovic has made just 34 appearances across all competitions in three-and-a-half years for Liverpool - the last of which came in May 2015 - and departed for three separate loan spells during that time.

The Serbian international joined Turkish giants Fenerbahce in 2015 after an underwhelming first season on Merseyside that included 11 Premier League starts, appearing just 14 times in the Super Lig during an injury-riddled stint in Turkey.

He returned to Portugal on a temporary basis the next summer after joining Sporting CP on another season-long loan deal that was cancelled by mutual consent midway through the 2016-17 campaign, paving the way for Markovic to join Hull City for the remainder of the year.

He largely impressed under Marco Silva, only for an ankle injury to rule him out of the final two matches of the season as the Tigers were relegated to the Championship.

Markovic made one solitary pre-season appearance against Tranmere Rovers after returning to Liverpool and was omitted from respective trips to Hong Kong and Germany as Silva's Watford, Fiorentina and Zenit Saint Petersburg all apparently refused to meet his £16m asking price.

The 23-year-old was subsequently named in Klopp's 25-man Premier League squad but omitted from his group for the initial stages of the Champions League and has thus far made the matchday 18 for just one solitary game this term - the 2-0 Carabao Cup third-round defeat at Leicester City in September in which he was left as an unused substitute.

Markovic could be seen as a potential replacement for Spartak's Quincy Promes, who The Telegraph report has been subject to bids from Southampton as the struggling Saints look to reinvest some of the £75m windfall from Virgil van Dijk's record sale to Liverpool on the £30m-rated Dutch winger and AS Monaco striker Guido Carrillo.

Van Dijk is the only player to be signed by Klopp so far this month, while Philippe Coutinho finally sealed a dream £142m switch to Barcelona, academy product Cameron Brannagan was offloaded to Oxford United and Marko Grujic, Ryan Kent, Matty Virtue and Corey Whelan were loaned to Cardiff City, Bristol City, Notts County and Yeovil Town respectively.

Youngsters Harry Wilson, Ovie Ejaria and Lloyd Jones could also leave on loan, according to Under-23s boss Mark Critchley, but Ben Woodburn will not be allowed to join Sunderland. Inter Milan have made an offer for Daniel Sturridge, who might hold out for a switch to La Liga with Sevilla.