Lazar Markovic LiverpoolGetty Images

A genius in five-a-side compared to Ronaldo and Messi - Why did Markovic flop at Liverpool?

The phrase 'no place like home' is particularly applicable to Lazar Markovic.

At 27, he is back at the club he began with as a teenager, Partizan Belgrade, where he is now captain and one of their star forwards.

Last season, he scored 12 goals in 27 Serbian SuperLiga fixtures as Partizan won 31 of their 38 league games to record 95 points – although they still finished 13 behind unbeaten champions and fierce rivals Red Star Belgrade.

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In the prime of his career, Markovic is the lead man for his boyhood club – the dream for many a football fan. It is, currently, a happy ending for a player whose big, early-career move to Liverpool could only be called a nightmare.

Indeed, Markovic is a genuine contender for Liverpool's worst transfer of all time, and that comes amid stiff competition.

Nonetheless, with 19 Premier League games in five years after a £20 million ($27m) move to Anfield – none of which came in his final four seasons, which were spent on loan all over Europe – the numbers suggest that he is top of the flops.

However, unlike many of the forgotten men we have rediscovered this year, one thing Markovic never lacked was ability. Even as he trained with the academy and played for the Under-23s at Liverpool, he was being praised by team-mates for his talent.

“Lazar Markovic was a genius in five-a-side games," former Reds keeper Adam Bogdan told the Liverpool Echo in September 2019.

There was no problem with his attitude either, with Markovic noted for working professionally even as he suffered the humiliation of having to train with the kids.

Lazar Markovic Liverpool GFXGetty/Goal

“I've got to say he's been brilliant to work with,” former Liverpool U23s coach Neil Critchley said of Markovic. “We've enjoyed having him around and he's been great with the young lads. He's humble, he listens to what's asked of him and he's been professional.”

Markovic, aged only 20 at the time, arrived at Anfield in the fateful summer of 2014, as part of Brendan Rodgers' scattergun spending of the Luis Suarez to Barcelona transfer fee.

Some of those who arrived – Adam Lallana and Divock Origi – enjoyed some success on Merseyside. Others – Alberto Moreno and Mario Balotelli – did not fare quite as well.

Markovic came to Liverpool from Benfica, where in his single season he won the Primeira Liga and reached the Europa League final – although he missed that defeat to Sevilla as he was sent off for fighting in the semi second-leg.

He had arrived in Portugal with a growing reputation fostered in Serbia as a vibrant and skilful goalscoring winger, named in the SuperLiga Team of the Season after both of his full campaigns for Partizan.

Ex-Chelsea manager Avram Grant, who coached Markovic at Partizan, gave him the highest praise possible: "I can say that apart from [Cristiano] Ronaldo and [Lionel] Messi, Markovic is one of the best talents I’ve ever seen at 19 years of age.

"It was excellent playing with this kid for six months. He has such massive potential that if he changed his attitude in training he could be one of Europe’s best players in his position.

"He’s young, he’ll mature, and then nobody will be able to stop him.”

Lazar Markovic Avram Grant GFXGetty/Goal

Unfortunately for Markovic, Rodgers employed a 3-4-3 formation in 2014-15, and while the Serb made 34 appearances that season, most were at wing-back.

“I didn’t have a good relationship with [Rodgers],” he would later say. “I played in many positions but not in mine.”

Also, Markovic – for all his good work on the training pitch – again let himself down with his temper during matches. He was sent off in December 2014 during a must-win Champions League match against Basel, 15 minutes after coming on as a sub, after raising his arms to an opponent.

Liverpool drew, exited the Champions League at the group stage and Markovic was a marked man from then on. His final Liverpool start came in the FA Cup semi-final defeat to Aston Villa in May 2015. He was subbed off at half-time.

After that, his loan travails began. There were spells with Fenerbahce, Sporting CP, Hull and Anderlecht, as Liverpool struggled to recoup even the smallest portion of their significant transfer outlay – or Markovic's £50,000-a-week wages.

Eventually, Markovic departed in January 2019 before the end of his contract. Where to? Fulham. But he played only 45 minutes of Premier League football in the 2018-19 season, in a 3-1 loss to West Ham.

Markovic most likely left English football for good in summer 2019, after Fulham's relegation, and returned to Partizan where he has been a key figure ever since.

Home, sweet home.

You can check in on more of Goal's Forgotten Men here.

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