Liverpool are close to completing their first signing of the January transfer window with Red Star Belgrade midfielder Marko Grujic due to undergo a medical on Merseyside on Monday.
The 19-year-old playmaker has chosen a £5m move to Anfield over interest from Internazionale and Chelsea following a personal intervention by Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, acting on the advice of his Serbian assistant, Zeljko Buvac. Grujic, a Serbia under-21 international, will spend the rest of the season on loan at Red Star before returning to Liverpool in the summer.
Grujic’s transfer is expected to be sealed swiftly after the medical with personal terms agreed with Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre during talks in Belgrade before Christmas.
The playmaker has been a major influence on Red Star’s commanding lead at the top of the Serbian league and will become Klopp’s first signing as Liverpool manager. Liverpool are also hoping to strike a pre-contract agreement in January with the Schalke defender Joel Matip, who is out of contract with the Bundesliga club next summer.
