{"id":267376,"date":"2025-09-30T20:35:20","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T20:35:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/267376\/"},"modified":"2025-09-30T20:35:20","modified_gmt":"2025-09-30T20:35:20","slug":"stefan-bajcetic-counting-the-days-to-liverpool-return-liverpool-fc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/267376\/","title":{"rendered":"Stefan Bajcetic &#8220;counting the days&#8221; to Liverpool return &#8211; Liverpool FC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b><a data-ail=\"328246\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thisisanfield.com\/liverpool-fc\/stefan-bajcetic\/\" title=\"Stefan Bajcetic\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Stefan Bajcetic<\/a> is \u201ccounting the days\u201d to his return from a long-term hamstring injury, with the midfielder set to be gradually reintroduced first with Liverpool\u2019s U21s.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Supporters\u2019 hopes were raised three weeks ago when Bajcetic was pictured working outside at the AXA Training Centre as the Reds returned from the September break.<\/p>\n<p>But the young Spaniard has not been involved since despite being a daily presence at Liverpool\u2019s facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Instead he is continuing his rehabilitation after surgery to correct a hamstring injury in May, having spent four months out so far.<\/p>\n<p>Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, as the first team prepared for their <a data-ail=\"328246\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thisisanfield.com\/liverpool-fc\/champions-league\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Champions League<\/a> clash with Galatasaray, Bajcetic wrote that he is \u201ccounting the days\u201d until his return.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-lazy-type=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2024-07-24-282-Liverpool_Pittsburgh-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"PITTSBURGH - Tuesday, July 23, 2024: Liverpool's Stefan Bajcetic returns to the team hotel after the team's second training session of the day on day one of the club's pre-season tour of the USA. (Photo by David Rawcliffe\/Propaganda)\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" class=\"lazy lazy-hidden alignnone size-medium wp-image-306358\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>His eventual comeback is expected to come first with the U21s, with head coach Rob Page telling This Is Anfield of their hopes to call upon the 20-year-old when fit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a possibility, isn\u2019t it?\u201d Page said earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s about getting him back on the grass, it\u2019s about exposing him to minutes to get him back up to full fitness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Any decision over Bajcetic\u2019s return and the minutes he is able to play will be taken carefully by Liverpool\u2019s medical staff.<\/p>\n<p>This comes after a long struggle with various injuries since his early breakthrough under <a data-ail=\"328246\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thisisanfield.com\/liverpool-fc\/jurgen-klopp\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Jurgen Klopp<\/a>, beginning with an adductor problem which cost him six months.<\/p>\n<p>He then suffered a troubling calf injury soon after his return which, combined with various other problems, kept him out for another seven months.<\/p>\n<p>Bajcetic\u2019s worrying lack of game time<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-lazy-type=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/2SBMFBB-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"2SBMFBB Girona, Spain. 04th Feb, 2025. Stefan Bajcetic of UD Las Palmas during the La Liga EA Sports match between Girona FC and UD Las Palmas played at Montilivi Stadium on February 3, 2025 in Girona, Spain. (Photo by Bagu Blanco\/PRESSINPHOTO) Credit: Sipa US\/Alamy Live News\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" class=\"lazy lazy-hidden alignnone size-medium wp-image-316853\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Since that initial setback in 2023 Bajcetic has only played 1,967 minutes of senior football, not aided by a difficult half-season loan with Red Bull Salzburg last term.<\/p>\n<p>It is therefore of vital importance to stick the landing when it comes to his rehabilitation this time out, particularly as it is maintained that <a data-ail=\"328246\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thisisanfield.com\/liverpool-fc\/arne-slot\/\" title=\"Arne Slot\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Arne Slot<\/a> is still counting on him as a first-team player.<\/p>\n<p>Page\u2019s U21s are only in competitive action on six more occasions between now and the end of the year, including clashes with League Two sides Crewe Alexandra and Chesterfield in the EFL Trophy.<\/p>\n<p>The hope will be that he can be brought back up to speed during that run from Friday\u2019s trip to <a data-ail=\"328246\" target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thisisanfield.com\/liverpool-fc\/fulham\/\" title=\"Fulham\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Fulham<\/a> and the clash with Chesterfield on November 11.<\/p>\n<p>Clearly, though, there are still steps for Bajcetic to take before he is cleared for action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stefan Bajcetic is \u201ccounting the days\u201d to his return from a long-term hamstring injury, with the midfielder set&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":267377,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[221,62,139347,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-267376","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-soccer","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-stefan-bajcetic","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115295166867867715","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=267376"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267376\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/267377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=267376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=267376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=267376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}