Players - Stefan Bajcetic

Stefan Bajcetic
Birthdate: 22 October 2004
Birthplace: Vigo, Spain
Other clubs: Celta Vigo [youth], Red Bull Salzburg (loan 2024-25), Las Palmas (loan 2025)
Signed from: Celta Vigo [youth]
Signed for LFC: £224,000, 01.01.2021
International caps: Spain U-18
Liverpool debut: 27.08.2022
Last appearance: 05.05.2024
Debut goal: 26.12.2022
Last goal: 26.12.2022
Contract expiry: 30.06.2027 (signed 26.01.2023)
Win ratio: 68.18% W:15 D:2 L:5
League games / goals / assists: 12 / 1 / 0
Total games / goals / assists: 22 / 1 / 0

Player Profile

Bajcetic arrived as a centre-back from Celta Vigo's youth team but soon started to forge ahead as a defensive midfielder. He signed a new contract in the 2022/23 pre-season after impressing the Liverpool coaching team in the first-team's warm up games. “He has amazing physical characteristics. He is extremely quick, makes good recoveries, has a great spring, is really impressive in the air and carries the ball cleanly out of defence,” Alex Otero, youth football co-ordinator at Celta, told The Athletic in January 2021. “It was clear he was a standout player in his age group. He can really play and help construct attacks but he is also noticeable for his comfort with his left and right foot and the ability to play on the right or left of the centre-backs. That is quite rare."

Still two months short of his 18th birthday, Bajcetic made his first team debut on 27 August 2022, coming off the bench to play the last twenty minutes of a 9-0 win over Bournemouth. He made three substitute appearances in the Champions League group stages and scored his first goal for the club when he came off the bench in a 3-1 win over Aston Villa on Boxing Day. Bajcetic's rise at Liverpool has been rapid in the troubled 2022/23 season and he was rewarded with a new contract in January 2023. Throughout 2023/24 Bajcetic struggled with a calf injury and was limited to just three appearances, two of them in the Europa League. His one Premier League appearance was as a 65th minute substitute at home to Tottenham on 5th May. Bajcetic's lack of sharpness showed and the Reds won 4-2, it had been 4-0 when he came on. Jurgen Klopp admitting is was a mistake to rush the promising teenager back, saying: "He comes on and it’s like you arrive on the motorway with your bicycle."

Bajcetic was loaned to Red Bull Salzburg for the 2024/25 season, where Pep Lijnders, his former coach at Liverpool is manager. Arne Slot sees a big future ahead of the youngster: “I hope it will be a big year for him because he’s a very talented player and I think he could become a very important player for us, but only if he gets playing time now,” said the Liverpool head coach. “If you are that young and you’ve been out for so long, the only thing you need is playing time. He could have playing time over here, but we’ve got six or seven very good midfielders, so his playing time here will always be more limited than we expect him to play at Salzburg. So for him, and us, we think it’s best for him to play at the moment, instead of maybe playing a few times and then being on the bench for a long time again. It’s very difficult to keep a player fit, who’s been out for 15 months when you only play him once in a while. Things didn't work out as planned, with Lijnders being sacked halfway through the season as . After making eight starts and eleven substitute appearances, he was recalled in January and loaned to Las Palmas, who were battling relegation from La Liga. Although he was unable to save the Canary Islanders from the drop, he got far more game time and was praised for some battling performances. 

Appearances per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 12 2 3 5 0 22
2022-2023 11 2 2 4 0 19
2023-2024 1 0 1 1 0 3
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
3 230 Wolves
2 108 Bournemouth
2 19 Ajax
2 15 Leicester City
1 90 Derby
1 90 Everton
1 85 Real Madrid
1 85 Brighton & Hove Albion
1 82 Chelsea
1 60 LASK
1 59 Newcastle United
1 46 Manchester City
1 26 Tottenham
1 12 Manchester United
1 11 Aston Villa
1 6 Crystal Palace
1 3 Napoli
Total Started/substitutions
12 Started
20 On the bench
10 Substitute
11 Substituted
Total Venue
12 Home
10 Away
Total Competition
12 Premier League
4 Champions League
3 League Cup
2 FA Cup
1 Europa League
Total W D L Win % Manager
22 15 2 5 68.2% Jürgen Klopp
Goals per season
Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 1 0 0 0 0 1
2022-2023 1 0 0 0 0 1
2023-2024 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Total Opponent
1 Aston Villa
Total Started/substitutions
0 Started
1 Substitute
Total Competition
1 Premier League
Total Goal minute period
1 76-90 minutes
Total Goal origin
1 Open play
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 27.08.2022 Bournemouth Anfield League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 81 26.12.2022 Aston Villa Villa Park League
Scrapbook
2020 - March - LFC Magazine
2020 - March - LFC Magazine
Baj Back to Stake Reds Claim - July 2023
Baj Back to Stake Reds Claim - July 2023
Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
RB Salzburg 2024-2025 Austria 1 12 0 19 0
Las Palmas 2024-2025 Spain 1 14 1 14 1
Total 26 1 33 1