Liverpool Midfield Shake-Up: Bajcetic Returns to Celta, Nyoni Promoted

Liverpool’s summer surgery in midfield has taken another sharp turn. Curtis Jones has already gone. Now Stefan Bajcetic is heading out the door as well – and Liverpool have decided they won’t bring in a replacement.

At a time when winger talk dominates the gossip around Anfield, it’s the middle of the pitch that suddenly feels exposed.

Bajcetic back to Celta Vigo

Stefan Bajcetic is on his way back to where it all began.

Trusted reporter Matteo Moretto has revealed that Liverpool and Celta Vigo have reached a club-to-club agreement for the 21-year-old. The deal is permanent. The structure is anything but traditional.

Liverpool will receive virtually nothing up front. The package is built on bonuses and a sell-on percentage, with the Reds retaining a cut of any future transfer fee if Bajcetic’s career takes off back in Spain. AnfieldSector translated Moretto’s comments on DAZN_ES, confirming the nature of the agreement and that Bajcetic is expected to undergo his Celta medical soon.

Given the context, the numbers make sense. Bajcetic is in the final year of his contract and has played fewer than 60 matches in four years, his time in England ravaged by persistent injuries. A nominal fee now, a bet on a bigger payoff later via the sell-on clause – Liverpool are gambling that familiar surroundings in Vigo can help him finally stay fit and flourish.

Transfer specialist Fabrizio Romano has also reported that Celta are closing in on personal terms with the midfielder, posting that the Spanish club are moving towards an agreement with Bajcetic over his move from Liverpool.

If all goes through as expected, Liverpool’s already thin group of defensive-minded midfielders will be cut in half.

A shrinking midfield core

Jones’ £30m move to Inter Milan stripped one reliable option from Liverpool’s engine room. Bajcetic’s imminent departure removes another body from the depth chart, even if he was far from a regular in recent times.

What remains is a midfield skewed heavily towards creativity rather than control.

• Ryan Gravenberch
• Dominik Szoboszlai
• Alexis Mac Allister
• Trey Nyoni
• Wataru Endo
• Bajcetic

Only Endo and Bajcetic could be classed as defensive specialists, and both already sat low in the pecking order.

Now one of them is going. The other, Endo, is effectively fifth choice.

Liverpool’s hierarchy, though, are not panicking. They are doubling down on a different solution.

No new midfielder – Nyoni gets the nod

The obvious question from supporters is simple: two midfielders out, so who comes in?

The answer from inside the club is blunt. No one.

TEAMtalk reported earlier this week that Liverpool have chosen to promote teenager Trey Nyoni up the ladder, viewing him as ready to become the fourth-choice option in central midfield. Szoboszlai, Gravenberch and Mac Allister will contest the two starting roles. Nyoni sits just behind them. Endo is fifth in line.

The Athletic have since echoed that stance. Journalist James Pearce relayed that, despite growing noise around midfield reinforcements – noise that only grew louder after the dramatic 2-2 draw with Newcastle – senior club sources insist the priority remains out wide, not in the middle.

“They don’t intend to replace Jones, as they see teenager Trey Nyoni as ready to step up and play a bigger part this season,” Pearce reported, adding that, unless there is a change of stance, only the forward line will be strengthened.

So Liverpool will ride into the new campaign with a reshaped, leaner midfield: Jones gone, Bajcetic set to follow, a sell-on clause tucked away for the future, and a teenager trusted to fill the gap.

The club have made their bet. The season will reveal whether that faith in Nyoni – and in a lighter midfield group – is bold planning or a risk that comes back to haunt them.