Marko Grujić

Marko Grujić (Serbian Cyrillic: Марко Грујић, pronounced [mâːrko ɡrûːjitɕ]; born 13 April 1996) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for German club Hertha BSC, on loan from Liverpool, and the Serbia national team.

Marko Grujić
Grujić in 2019
Personal information
Full name Marko Grujić[1]
Date of birth (1996-04-13) 13 April 1996
Place of birth Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Hertha BSC (on loan from Liverpool)
Number 15
Youth career
2005–2013 Red Star Belgrade
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 Red Star Belgrade 31 (5)
2014 → Kolubara (loan) 5 (2)
2016– Liverpool 8 (0)
2016 → Red Star Belgrade (loan) 8 (1)
2018 → Cardiff City (loan) 13 (1)
2018– → Hertha BSC (loan) 50 (9)
National team‡
2011–2012 Serbia U16 4 (2)
2012 Serbia U17 1 (1)
2014–2015 Serbia U19 3 (0)
2015 Serbia U20 7 (0)
2015– Serbia U21 13 (0)
2016– Serbia 8 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 June 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9 June 2018

A native of Belgrade, Grujić started his career with his hometown club Red Star Belgrade, progressing through their youth system to the first team squad. He made his professional debut in 2013, and won the SuperLiga title in his final season with Red Star before completing a £5.1 million move to Liverpool.

Grujić is a Serbian international, and represented Serbia at every youth level from under-16 upwards before making his full international debut in May 2016. He was part of the Serbian side which won the 2015 U-20 World Cup.

Club career

Red Star Belgrade

Grujić was born in Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia (now Serbia) and is a product of Red Star Belgrade, where he went through the youth program, passed all categories and was the captain of his generation. He made his professional debut for Red Star on 26 May 2013, in a Serbian SuperLiga match versus Vojvodina.[3]

On 17 May 2015, Grujić signed a three-year contract with Red Star to last until 2018.[4] Grujić scored his first senior goal on 26 September 2015 against Novi Pazar in a 2–0 victory; he also assisted Aleksandar Katai for the second goal.[5] Grujić was a part of an unprecedented run of Red Star victories, as the club set a new record for the number of consecutive victories (19), ending the first half of the season without defeat.[6]

Liverpool

Throughout autumn, Grujić was scouted by a number of high-profile European teams, including Liverpool, Internazionale, Juventus, Chelsea, and Milan. Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp called Grujić personally to convince him to switch to Anfield, but initially Grujić's father was against his son moving to Liverpool.[7] Klopp's assistant, Željko Buvač, flew to Belgrade to speak with Grujić and on 6 January 2016, it was confirmed that Grujić completed his move to Premier League side Liverpool, signing a five-year deal for a reported fee of £5.1 million.[8][9] Upon joining, Grujić hailed Klopp for convincing him to join and told the press, "I would choose Liverpool over Real Madrid and Barcelona."[10]

He was immediately loaned back to Red Star until the end of the season for a fee of £740,000, and won the SuperLiga with Red Star while on loan. Grujić finished the season with 29 appearances, 6 goals, 7 assists and was voted into the SuperLiga Team of the Year for his contribution to Red Star's unbeaten season.

On 20 August 2016, Grujić made his Premier League debut for Liverpool in a 2–0 loss against Burnley, coming on in the place of Adam Lallana in the 78th minute.[11]

Loan to Cardiff City

On 17 January 2018, Grujić joined Championship side Cardiff City on loan for the remainder of the 2017–18 season.[12] He made his debut for the club three days later, playing in a 0–0 draw with Sheffield Wednesday.[13] Grujić's first goal for Cardiff came in a 2–1 home victory over Barnsley on 6 March 2018, scoring from range just after the start of the second half.[14][15]

Loan to Hertha BSC

On 19 August 2018, Grujić joined Bundesliga club Hertha BSC on a one-year loan.[16] He scored his first goal for the club on 8 December, netting the only goal in a 1–0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.[17] Hertha coach Pal Dardai hailed Grujić as "by far the best midfielder at Hertha Berlin in 20 years".[18]

On 1 July 2019, his loan deal was extended for a second season, with a reported loan fee of £2 million.[19]

International career

Grujić represented Serbia at all youth levels from under-16 to under-21, and was a member of the Serbia squad that won the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand.[20]

In May 2016, Grujić made his full international debut for the Serbia national team after coming on in place of Nemanja Matić in a 2–1 win against Cyprus.[21]

In May 2018 he was named in Serbia's preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[22]

In June 2018 he was selected in Serbia's squad for the 2018 World Cup,[23] but he failed to make any appearances there.

Style of play

Standing at 6-foot-3-inches (1.91 m), Grujić has been described as "tall, rangy, comfortable on the ball and with a good range of passing" and dubbed the "new Matić" because of his likeness in both appearance and position to fellow Serbian defensive midfielder Nemanja Matić.[20]

Career statistics

Club
As of 20 June 2020[24]
Club Season Division League Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Red Star Belgrade 2012–13 Serbian SuperLiga 1000—00—10
2014–15 9010—00—100
2015–16 29610—00—306
Total 396200000—416
Kolubara (loan) 2014–15 Serbian First League 5200———52
Liverpool 2016–17 Premier League 500030——80
2017–18 30001020—60
Total 80004020—140
Cardiff City (loan) 2017–18 Championship 13110———141
Hertha BSC (loan) 2018–19 Bundesliga 22510———235
2019–20 28420———304
Total 50930———539
Career Total 11518604020—12718

International
As of 9 June 2018[25]
Serbia
YearAppsGoals
201630
201710
201840
Total80

Honours

Club

Red Star Belgrade

Cardiff City

International

Serbia U20

Individual

References
  1. "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  2. "2018 FIFA World Cup: List of players" (PDF). FIFA. 21 June 2018. p. 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  3. "Archived copy" Војводина – Црвена звезда 3:0 (1:0). Red Star Belgrade official website (in Serbian). 26 May 2013. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Grujić and Jovic by 2018 in Zvezda Radio Televizija Vojvodine: Grujić i Jović do 2018. u Zvezdi (in Serbian) 17 May 2015
  5. "Red Star vs Novi Pazar report". onefootball.com.
  6. Michael Yokhin (15 December 2015). "ESPN: Miodrag 'The Count' Bozovic breaking records at Red Star Belgrade". Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  7. Aleksandar Radonić (23 December 2015). "OTAC MARKA GRUJIĆA EKSKLUZIVNO ZA KURIR: Terziću, ne diraj mi sina" (in Serbian). Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  8. Bell, Tom (6 January 2016). "Marko Grujic confirmed as Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp's first signing". ESPN FC. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  9. "Marko Grujic: Liverpool sign Red Star Belgrade midfielder". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  10. Lusby, Jack. "Marko Grujic reveals his Liverpool role, hints at Lazar Markovic's future – This Is Anfield". This Is Anfield. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  11. Bevan, Chris (20 August 2016). "Burnley 2–0 Liverpool". BBC.com. BBC. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  12. Tom Coleman (17 January 2018). "Liverpool FC star Marko Grujic signs for Cardiff City and describes it as 'breakthrough moment' of his career". WalesOnline. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  13. "Sheffield Wednesday 0–0 Cardiff City". BBC Sport. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  14. Dafydd Pritchard (6 March 2018). "Cardiff City 2–1 Barnsley". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  15. "Marko Grujic". Premier League. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  16. "Marko Grujic kommt aus Liverpool" [Marko Grujić joins from Liverpool]. Hertha BSC. 19 August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  17. "Marko Grujic wins Hertha Berlin all three points against Eintracht Frankfurt". Bundesliga. 8 December 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  18. "Marko Grujic "by far the best midfielder at Hertha Berlin in 20 years" – Pal Dardai". Bundesliga. 10 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  19. "Liverpool secure £2 million fee to loan Marko Grujic to Hertha Berlin". Telegraph. 1 July 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  20. "Who is Marko Grujic? We profile Liverpool signing". skysports.com.
  21. "Фудбалски савез Србије – званична веб презентација". www.fss.rs.
  22. Један тим, срцем свим – Младен Крстајић одабрао [One team, with all their hearts – Mladen Krstajić selects]. FSS.rs (in Serbian). Football Association of Serbia. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
  23. "World Cup 2018: All the confirmed squads for this summer's finals in Russia". BBC Sport. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  24. "Marko Grujić". soccerway.com.
  25. "Marko Grujić". European Football. 24 June 2018.
  26. Anderson, John, ed. (2018). Football Yearbook 2018–2019. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 106–107. ISBN 978-1-4722-6106-9.
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