Bajcetic's Potential Return to Celta Vigo Amid Liverpool Talks

Liverpool’s midfield overhaul is still rumbling on, and Stefan Bajcetic looks increasingly like the next casualty of the reset.

Hot on the heels of Curtis Jones’ move to Inter Milan in a deal that could hit £30 million, the spotlight has swung to 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 enquiry or a speculative call. It is more drastic than that.

Contract termination on the table

Celta’s interest is clear. They want Bajcetic back in a familiar environment, a place where he can rebuild his rhythm and fitness after two punishing years. The vision is straightforward: take him home, strip away the noise, and give him a platform to restart a career that once looked destined for the top.

The problem sits in the paperwork.

Bajcetic is under contract at Liverpool until 2027. Celta, according to the report, do not want to pay a conventional transfer fee. Their preferred option is a clean contract termination at Anfield, allowing the Spaniard to arrive as a free agent.

That changes the dynamic completely. It places the decision squarely between Liverpool and the player: is it worth holding on to a midfielder who has not played a senior game for the club in more than two years, or is it better for everyone to cut ties now?

For Celta, it is about opportunity, not outlay. For Liverpool, it is about whether sentiment and potential can still outweigh cold practicality.

From breakthrough hope to stalled project

Bajcetic was once one of the brightest lights of Liverpool’s next generation. Technically sharp, calm under pressure, brave in tight spaces – he looked like the blueprint of the modern holding midfielder. At one stage, it felt as if Liverpool had unearthed their long-term No. 6 from within their own ranks.

Then the injuries came. They didn’t just slow him down; they ripped up his momentum. Loan spells failed to reignite his trajectory. While he was fighting for fitness and form, the picture at Liverpool shifted again under Andoni Iraola, narrowing his route back into the senior side.

The club’s midfield has been reshaped, and Bajcetic has slipped from “next in line” to “uncertain asset”.

Celta’s plan: Fortuna first, then the first team

Celta’s pitch is not built on instant stardom. The idea, as outlined in the report, is for Bajcetic to start with Celta Fortuna rather than walk straight into the first team.

It is a deliberate step-by-step approach: controlled minutes, managed workload, gradual reintegration into competitive football. Only once he proves his fitness and consistency would he be nudged back towards La Liga action.

Sevilla and Getafe have also been linked during this window, but Celta’s pull is different. It is emotional as much as sporting. This is his boyhood club, a place where the connection already exists and where head coach Claudio Giráldez knows him personally.

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 then stressed the bond that already exists: “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.”

That is as close as you get to an open door without stepping through it.

Liverpool’s midfield gamble

All of this unfolds against a sensitive backdrop at Anfield. Jones has gone. Bajcetic may follow. Yet there is no immediate sign of a like-for-like replacement being lined up.

Inside the club, the expectation is that Trey Nyoni and James McConnell will soak up some of the minutes and opportunities in the short term. That internal faith helps explain why Liverpool are not rushing into the market.

It also sharpens the sense of risk.

Supporters have seen how quickly depth can evaporate across a long, punishing season. Losing two technically gifted midfielders in one window, while trusting unproven options to fill the void, asks serious questions of the long-term plan.

If Liverpool agree to terminate Bajcetic’s deal, it will underline a clear strategy: streamline the group, trim away players on the fringes, and back the next wave. The danger is obvious – that they are clearing out quality before it has truly had the chance to mature.

A promising story nearing its end

There is a growing feeling that this is not the start of a negotiation but the closing chapter of one. The momentum points one way: towards Spain, towards Celta, towards a reset.

For Bajcetic, a return to Vigo offers something priceless – a realistic route back into regular, meaningful football. For Liverpool, it would mark the end of a story that once carried genuine excitement but never fully recovered from its early derailment.

If he does go, few at Anfield will begrudge him the move. He brought energy and hope at a time when Liverpool badly needed both. The sting lies in the manner of the exit: a contract torn up, a move to a reserve side, and a lingering sense of what might have been.

The decision now is brutal in its simplicity: hold on to the dream, or let it walk back to Spain and start again.