Liverpool have been linked with a move for Red Star Belgrade youngster Marko Grujic and while the player himself is said to be interested, his father, Goran is completely against a move. The deal, supposedly in the region of £5 million, was said to be signed and seal, but Grujic's father spoke out against the move for the 19 year old.
Goran Grujic even went so far as to confiscate and hide his son's passport in order to prevent him transferring to England.
Empire of the Kop have pieced together an entire transcript of the father's quotes and they are quite remarkable, very true and are not a good look for the Premier League.
“I won’t allow them to destroy my boy! I’m speaking about people who are in charge of the club [Red Star Belgrade].
“Everyone turned their back on them, as they’ve spent all the money the club has had, and they see a solution in Marko’s transfer. That’s why there’s so much pressure on him.
“Ten times per day they are calling him by phone, urging him to sign a contract. There are stories in Serbian media, like ‘Gerrard’s No.8 is waiting for him’, or ‘Klopp called him by phone’, ‘millions here, millions there’.
“And there’s also pressure in (the) Red Star dressing room, as it seems that (people from the management) convinced players, who are waiting for their salaries, that their payments depend on Marko’s transfer.
“I mean, which club is willing to pay £5.1m, and then to say ‘Look, kid, come when you want’? Nope, if Liverpool FC is seriously counting on him, they’ll tell him ‘Start of training camp in January on this day, at that hour, we’re expecting you’. And, what kind of combination is that?
“The club is paying for him £5.1m, but then leave him on loan and that loan costs £730,000? Really, I’m starting to think I should call the police to tell them everything about this pressure.”
“His passport is with me, and I pronounce that Marko is not going anywhere. None of our younger (Serbian) players survived in the Premier League.
“Bojan Djordjic, Milos Veljkovic, Adem Ljajic, Zoran Tosic, Lazar Markovic, Danilo Pantic… Do you need me to continue to list them? None of them had the opportunity to prove themselves.
“The second is the story with (Branislav) Ivanovic and (Nemanja) Vidic. They came as experienced players. I know he has the quality to be able to play in England , but it’s not league for him now.”
What's £5 million to Liverpool but pocket change. Goran Grujic understands this, appears to have done his homework on the possiblity of his son's failure and would prefer a move to a less physically demanding league. It's hard to argue with given his heart is in the right place.
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