Hertha Berlin Reportedly Want Marko Grujic Back on Two-Year Loan

The German club know they can’t afford to buy the player but are desperate to keep him.

Hertha Berlin have made no secret of their desire to keep Marko Grujic around, and according to Germany’s SportBild their plan to convince Liverpool to let them keep the player involves a proposed two-year loan.

It’s more reasonable an idea, perhaps, than it might appear on the surface. Grujic signed a new deal before heading to Hertha last summer and is under contract until 2023. He would have two years left on it at the end of a two-year loan.

He’s also 23 right now, meaning that at the end of such a loan he would be 25 and just entering his prime as a player. Hertha, meanwhile, have talked about him as the best player they have had in decades.

That would mean two years of him starting every week, two years of being given the chance to carry Hertha into Europe—a not unreasonable idea given that when he was fit last season they were a top four side based on form.

At Liverpool, on the other hand, it’s hard to see where Grujic gets major minutes with Jordan Henderson, Gini Wijnaldum, Fabinho, James Milner, Naby Keïta, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all expect in the mix for next season.

The choices, then, are bringing Grujic back to Anfield to get lost in the depth chart, selling him now for whatever he’s worth, or keeping him on the books for at least two more years by letting him play every week for Hertha.

Then, with two years still left on his Liverpool contract, you either bring him back to Anfield as a nailed-on starter or sell him, presumably for more than he’d be worth today. That’s the reasoning, at least, and it’s sound reasoning at that.

For their part, Liverpool are said to be waiting until after the Champions League final to decide Grujic’s future, but all things considered it would hardly be a shock if he does in fact return to Hertha for another season—or even two.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com