Bajcetic Set for Celta Vigo Return as Liverpool Talks Intensify
Liverpool’s midfield overhaul looks set to claim another high‑profile young casualty. With Curtis Jones already bound for Inter Milan in a deal that could hit £30 million, the spotlight has swung sharply onto Stefan Bajcetic – and a return to Celta Vigo is gathering real momentum.
Reports in Spain suggest discussions are advancing over a move that would take the 21-year-old back to his boyhood club. This is not a simple loan or a standard sale. The key detail is far more drastic: Celta are pushing for Liverpool to terminate Bajcetic’s contract, which currently runs until 2027, so he can head home as a free agent.
That is the crux of the negotiation. And it leaves Liverpool with a stark decision to make.
From rising hope to stalled project
Two years ago, Bajcetic looked like the future of Liverpool’s midfield. Technically assured, calm under pressure, brave in tight spaces – he carried the profile of a modern holding midfielder and, for a spell, felt like an internal answer to a long‑standing problem.
Then the injuries arrived. Rhythm disappeared. Loan spells failed to reignite his trajectory. The change of head coach to Andoni Iraola has only narrowed his route back into the senior picture.
He has not played a senior game for Liverpool in more than two years. For a club now reshaping its squad with a harder edge, that matters.
From Celta’s perspective, the plan is clear. They see a talented academy product whose career has drifted and want to bring him back into a familiar environment to rebuild his fitness and confidence. But they do not want to pay a traditional fee and wages on top. They want a clean slate.
That is why early contract termination sits at the heart of their approach.
Celta’s pitch: home, but not straight into the spotlight
The emotional pull is obvious. Bajcetic grew up at Celta, and the idea of going back to a club that knows him, with staff who have already worked with him, is powerful.
Celta, though, are not promising a straight line into their first team. The plan, as outlined in Spain, is for Bajcetic to start with Celta Fortuna, the club’s reserve side. From there, he would be eased back towards top‑level football rather than thrown in immediately.
Head coach Claudio Giráldez chose his words carefully 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.”
The message is respectful, restrained – but the door is clearly open.
Sevilla and Getafe have also been linked, yet the combination of emotional ties, development pathway and existing relationships makes Celta feel like the most natural destination.
Liverpool’s midfield gamble
All of this unfolds against a backdrop of change at Anfield. Jones has gone. Bajcetic may follow. Yet Liverpool are not currently moving aggressively to replace them.
Inside the club, there is belief that existing youngsters can absorb the slack. Trey Nyoni and James McConnell are expected to step into the spaces that open up in the short term. That internal confidence goes some way to explaining why a new signing is not viewed as urgent business.
It also underlines a strategic choice: streamline rather than stockpile. Fewer bodies, clearer pathways, higher standards.
But there is risk. Liverpool fans have seen how quickly depth can evaporate over a long season. Losing Jones – a homegrown, technically gifted midfielder – and potentially Bajcetic, another high‑ceiling talent, raises uncomfortable questions about whether enough creativity and control are being retained for the long term.
An Anfield story that never quite took off
For Bajcetic, the direction of travel feels clear. The momentum is towards Spain, not a fresh start under Iraola.
A move to Celta Vigo would give him something vital: a realistic route back into regular, competitive football in a setting he knows. For Liverpool, it would mark the quiet end of a story that once promised so much but never fully recovered from those early injury blows.
If the contract is torn up and he walks away to join Celta, there will be no transfer fee to soften the disappointment. Just the sense of a missed opportunity – for player and club.
He gave Liverpool a glimpse of what he could be at a time when they badly needed new energy in midfield. Now the question is no longer whether he can anchor their future, but whether he can rebuild his own career, starting again where it all began.
