Liverpool Flop Trains With Under-23 Side After Surprisingly Remaining at Anfield This Summer

Things have gone from bad to worse for Liverpool winger Lazar Markovic, who has been demoted to train with the Reds' Under-23 side this season.

That is according to the Liverpool ECHO, who are also reporting that the Serbian worked with Neil Critchley's squad in Kirby while the side's non-international players were handed the last week off due to the international fixtures during the current break.

Markovic was though to be on his way out during the summer and it was expected that he would move to Belgian outfit Anderlecht ahead of the closing of the recent transfer window. However, talks over a £2.9m move - which would have handed the Reds a significant loss on their initial outlay of £20m - broke down on deadline day with the player failing to agree terms.

With the window set to open again in January, the player simply has to bide his time and hope he can engineer an exit. In the meantime, though, he has been training with the Under-23s, who could benefit from his presence.

He has already done enough to impress Crew manager David Artell, who took his troops to Kirby for a friendly last Friday.

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“Without a game at the weekend we used the time to take them to Liverpool on Friday," Artell was quoted as saying.

"They trained with Critch’s under-23s and played a game behind closed doors. They had Markovic with them and he was a class above. It was a great experience and the players can really see the benefit of it.”