Bajcetic's Potential Return to Celta Vigo Amid Liverpool Midfield Changes
Liverpool’s midfield overhaul is still rumbling on – and Stefan Bajcetic now looks like the next major casualty.
Days after Curtis Jones sealed his move to Inter Milan in a deal that could hit £30 million, attention has swung sharply onto Bajcetic. In Spain, Faro de Vigo report that Celta Vigo are pushing hard to bring the 21-year-old back to the club where it all began for him.
This is not a routine loan or a quiet squad tweak. The shape of his Liverpool future is on the line.
From rising hope to stalled project
Two years ago, Bajcetic looked like the one. Calm on the ball, brave under pressure, tactically sharp – he carried the profile of a modern holding midfielder and seemed on course to grow into a major figure at Anfield.
Then the injuries arrived.
Repeated setbacks have shredded his momentum. Loan spells, intended to restore rhythm and confidence, have failed to give him a sustained platform. As Liverpool’s structure has evolved again under Andoni Iraola, the pathway that once looked open now feels crowded and unforgiving. He has not made a senior appearance for Liverpool in more than two years.
The promise has never really been in doubt. The route to the first team has.
Celta’s plan: reset in familiar territory
From Celta Vigo’s side, the intention is clear. They see a chance to bring home a technically gifted, homegrown midfielder and rebuild him in surroundings he knows.
The sticking point is the contract.
Bajcetic is tied to Liverpool until 2027. According to the report in Spain, Celta would rather avoid a traditional transfer and instead explore a termination of his Liverpool deal, allowing him to arrive as a free agent. For them, this is about opportunity, not outlay.
That approach shifts the burden back onto Liverpool and the player. The club must decide whether a clean break – writing off a talent they once believed in – is more sensible than continuing to carry a player whose progress has been frozen by injuries and circumstance.
Celta’s sporting idea is measured, not romantic. He would not be dropped straight into the senior XI. The plan, as outlined, is for Bajcetic to start with Celta Fortuna, their reserve side, easing his way back into competitive action before attempting to climb into Claudio Giráldez’s first-team picture.
The emotional pull is obvious. So is the risk.
Giráldez treads carefully in public
Celta head coach Claudio Giráldez chose his words with care when asked about the situation.
“If he's happy and we can reach an agreement, it would be a good situation, but I'm not thinking about that right now,” he said. “He's a homegrown player; I don't talk about players we don't have. If I talk about any of them, it's those who have been here before because we understand that we always have a stronger connection, and on top of that, we have a very good relationship. I coached him. If it happens, great, but I don't talk about players we don't have.”
It was a diplomatic answer, but the subtext was obvious: the door is open, the relationship is strong, and Celta are serious.
Sevilla and Getafe have also been linked during this window, yet Celta’s combination of familiarity, development focus and emotional connection gives them a clear edge.
Liverpool’s midfield calculation after Jones
All of this plays out against a shifting Liverpool midfield landscape.
Jones has gone. Bajcetic may follow. On paper, that looks like two technically assured midfielders leaving in quick succession. Inside the club, though, there is confidence that internal options can plug the gaps, at least in the short term.
Trey Nyoni and James McConnell are expected to step into some of the available minutes. That belief helps explain why Liverpool are not rushing into the market for an immediate replacement. The strategy points towards streamlining the group rather than stockpiling bodies.
It is a bold call. Supporters have seen how quickly depth can evaporate across a long season, especially in midfield. Letting both Jones and Bajcetic go without a clear, long-term addition will test the club’s conviction in its younger core.
A promising story nearing its end
The sense around Bajcetic now is not of a fresh saga starting, but of an outcome closing in.
For the player, Celta Vigo offers something vital: a realistic route back into regular football, in a league he knows, at a club that understands him. For Liverpool, it increasingly feels like the final chapter of a story that never managed to climb back to its early peak.
When he first broke through, Bajcetic gave Liverpool exactly what they were crying out for – composure, energy, and a glimpse of a homegrown solution at the base of midfield. That memory will not fade quickly among those who saw it.
If this ends with a contract termination and a move to a reserve side in Spain, it will sting. Not because the decision is necessarily wrong, but because of what it represents: a talent that once lit up Anfield now needing to start again from the bottom rung.
If he does go, most Liverpool fans will send him on his way with genuine goodwill. The bigger question will linger at Anfield: in clearing out these technical midfielders, are Liverpool trimming smartly – or cutting too close to the bone for a season that has only just begun?
