"He is very ambitious and he has achieved it" - Liverpool player's father says he is surpised by how quickly things have worked out

Liverpool defensive midfielder Stefan Bajcetic's father has expressed surprise over how quickly things have worked out for his son at Anfield. The Serbian came into the spotlight when he scored for the Merseysiders in their 3-1 victory over Aston Villa on Boxing Day (26 December).

Stefan Bajcetic joined Liverpool from Celta Vigo's youth ranks in January of 2021. He represented both the U-18 and the U-21 teams at Anfield before being called up to the senior team by manager Jurgen Klopp this year.

The youngster made his senior-team debut in the 9-0 victory over Bournemouth in the Premier League back in August. Since then, he's represented the club in seven games: two in the English top flight, three in the Champions League and two in the EFL Cup.

Bajcetic reached a new milestone in his career this week as he bagged his first-ever goal for Liverpool in the 3-1 triumph over Aston Villa at Villa Park on Monday. The midfielder came on for Jordan Henderson in the 79th minute and got on the scoresheet just two minutes later.

Speaking after the game, the player's father explained that he was surprised by the development, adding that his son was lucky that the club's injury crisis worked in his favor. He told AS:

“We didn’t expect this to happen this year. He was lucky that a lot of people were injured in midfield and from the beginning, he started training with the first team. He has taken it as a challenge, he is very ambitious, and he has achieved it."

"He has a very good relationship with Klopp’s first assistant; Pepjin Lijnders, who is a Dutch guy who speaks Spanish; and with another Portuguese guy, Vítor Matos, who is the link between the youth team and the first team."

The fast-rising talent's father also hailed Liverpool boss Klopp for his courage to give opportunities to young players. He continued:

“They really went for Stefan and Klopp confirmed what they saw. Klopp makes light of any match, puts no pressure on them and has the courage to put them in. He brought Stefan on in 79 minutes with the score tight and took off Henderson, an England international.”

Stefan Bajcetic earns Jurgen Klopp's praise after scoring first Liverpool goal

The Reds boss couldn't help but shower praise on the Serbian following his commendable performance and maiden goal for the club on Monday. Speaking to Amazon Prime Video, the German tactician said:

"He's cheeky as hell and is not worried about anything. He just plays football and he can do that exceptionally well. He had a football-playing father [Srdan Bajcetic] so the genes are there but also the attitude, awareness and match intelligence. It's a big pleasure to work with these boys."

The Merseysiders will take on Leicester City in the English top flight at Anfield this Friday (30 December).