Earlier in the week we brought you the bizarre news of the lengths that a Serbian man was going to in order to ensure that his son Marko Grujic doesn't join Liverpool, but since then the full transcript of what was said has emerged, and it makes for very interesting reading.
Initially the main motive for his stance was that he didn't want Liverpool to "destroy" his boy, but in actual fact it seems that his problems lie mainly with the pressure that is being put on his son by Red Star Belgrade, and the track record of Serbian youngsters in England.
EmpireOfTheKop.com got a hold of the full transcript of Grujic Senior's argument, although it appears that there is still a good chance that the move will go ahead:
I won’t allow them to destroy my boy!
I’m speaking about people who are in charge of the club [Red Star Belgrade]. Everyone turned their back on them, as they’ve spent all the money the club has had, and they see a solution in Marko’s transfer. That’s why there’s so much pressure on him.
Ten times per day they are calling him by phone, urging him to sign a contract. There are stories in Serbian media, like ‘Gerrard’s No.8 is waiting for him’, or ‘Klopp called him by phone’, ‘millions here, millions there’. And there’s also pressure in (the) Red Star dressing room, as it seems that (people from the management) convinced players, who are waiting for their salaries, that their payments depend on Marko’s transfer.
I mean, which club is willing to pay £5.1m, and then to say ‘Look, kid, come when you want’? Nope, if Liverpool FC is seriously counting on him, they’ll tell him ‘Start of training camp in January on this day, at that hour, we’re expecting you’. And, what kind of combination is that?
The club is paying for him £5.1m, but then leave him on loan and that loan costs £730,000? Really, I’m starting to think I should call the police to tell them everything about this pressure. His passport is with me, and I pronounce that Marko is not going anywhere.
None of our younger (Serbian) players survived in the Premier League. Bojan Djordjic, Milos Veljkovic, Adem Ljajic, Zoran Tosic, Lazar Markovic, Danilo Pantic... Do you need me to continue to list them? None of them had the opportunity to prove themselves.
The second is the story with (Branislav) Ivanovic and (Nemanja) Vidic. They came as experienced players. I know he has the quality to be able to play in England , but it’s not league for him now.
The man knows his football, you've got to give him that. Bojan Djordjic, there's a blast from the past as well.
Marko Grujic has since proved that he is in fact holding his own passport, and if the deal does go through then he will be loaned back to Red Star for the remainder of the season.
But his old man won't be happy.
You can check out Marko Grujic's highlights in the original post we published about the deal below:
