Realistic Expectations for Marko Grujic at Liverpool in 2016/17

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has spent the summer reshaping his squad, with a plethora of incomings sanctioned to negotiate a busy departure list—including three high-profile acquisitions in Joel Matip, Sadio Mane and Georginio Wijnaldum, and another sealed in January in Serbian midfielder Marko Grujic.

The German has seen Christian Benteke, Joe Allen and Jordon Ibe front a 10-strong exodus from his senior ranks so far, with Liverpool recouping up to £80.5 million in funds, leaving them in the black at this stage.

Three games into the 2016/17 campaign, and Mane is the headline name, with the Senegalese arguably Liverpool's best player in wins over Arsenal in the Premier League and Burton Albion in the second round of the new-look EFL Cup.

Adjusting to life on Merseyside immediately following a £30 million move from Southampton, Mane looks poised to take up a focal role in Klopp's attack this season, and The Anfield Wrap's Gareth Roberts argued the case for him to take up the mantle as the Reds' headline act in the immediate aftermath of victory in Burton:

"

The likelihood is Philippe Coutinho, Roberto Firmino, Daniel Sturridge and Adam Lallana among others will all benefit from his presence. The opposition can’t mark everyone, and it could herald a possible throwback to the "let them worry about us" approach of old. That seems more likely than a sudden upturn in meanness at the back.

Can we rely on Mane? Can he be a star? Let’s say yes to both.

"

This will no doubt benefit those around him in terms of dampening expectation, and if Mane continues to thrive, Klopp can hope for some of his lesser-known names to continue their positive development this season.

One such player has flown under the radar as Klopp has welcomed new additions to Merseyside this summer, with Grujic little more than a footnote as the Reds begin their 2016/17 campaign.

But what can supporters expect from Grujic this season? Here, we outline realistic ambitions for the young midfielder, as he works under the glow of Mane, Wijnaldum, Matip and Klopp's more established stars.

Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images

Grujic became the first signing of Klopp's Liverpool reign at the beginning of January, with the Reds brokering a £5.1 million deal with Serbian SuperLiga side Red Star Belgrade, agreeing to allow the youngster to stay with his boyhood club for the remainder of the 2015/16 campaign.

After a lengthy spell that saw Grujic linked with the likes of AS Roma, Chelsea and most prominently Inter Milan, according to the Liverpool Echo's James Pearce in December, his capture was lauded by Klopp in an interview with the club's official website:

"

[I am] very pleased because Marko is a big talent and we’ve seen him a lot of times. When I came here, our scouts showed me some footage of a very skilled player from Red Star Belgrade. We watched it, we spoke to him, we met each other—he’s a good boy, a young boy but plays an important role at the moment at Red Star, who are the best team in Serbia.

"

As Pearce suggested, Klopp's Balkan assistant, Zeljko Buvac, played a key role in identifying Grujic as a target, and the midfielder continues a long tradition of the German and his backroom staff moving for less-established names.

After completing the formalities of his deal on Merseyside, Grujic returned to Belgrade to help Red Star to the SuperLiga title—their first since 2013/14, and only their third since the league's inception in 2005—taking up a key position.

Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images

"He’s a tall boy, but quick and good at technical things," Klopp continued to explain in January. "He can play passes and can dribble. But he is young, so he has to develop."

Red Star manager Miodrag Bozovic clearly aligned with this view of Grujic's talents, first deploying him in a box-to-box role in a 4-2-3-1 formation, before switching to the No. 10 after the SuperLiga's winter break.

Grujic scored six goals and laid on a further seven assists in 29 appearances in the Serbian top flight, with Red Star losing just twice over the course of the campaign, as the 20-year-old's blend of bullish physicality and technical quality made him his side's most important player.

While he could have been described as something of a big fish in a small pond in Belgrade, Grujic's arrival at Anfield this summer has presented him with more formidable competition for a starting role in midfield.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Over the course of last season, Klopp made use of 10 different central midfielders, with nine of these afforded five or more appearances—albeit with some deputising in various other roles:

• Emre Can, 49 appearances
• James Milner, 45 appearances
• Lucas Leiva, 40 appearances
• Joe Allen, 37 appearances
• Jordan Henderson, 26 appearances
• Kevin Stewart, 11 appearances
• Cameron Brannagan, nine appearances
• Pedro Chirivella, five appearances
• Jordan Rossiter, four appearances

(Statistics via LFCHistory.net.)

While Henderson struggled with injury for much of the campaign, leaving the likes of Milner and Lucas to fill in, the England international ostensibly formed Klopp's first-choice pairing in a 4-2-3-1 formation alongside Can.

This season, however, Klopp's approach has changed, with the German fielding a new-look 4-3-3 formation in all three of the Reds' clashes so far—but despite the opening of a new position in the middle of the park, and both Allen and Rossiter leaving the club this summer, Liverpool's central options are similarly strong.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

Along with Can, Milner, Lucas, Henderson, Stewart, Brannagan and Chirivella, Klopp is also able to call upon Wijnaldum, Grujic and Adam Lallana as part of his three-man setup, with the latter adopting a new role.

"It's a different role but one I'll embrace and I'll play wherever the manager wants me to play as long as it benefits the team," Lallana told the club's official website after scoring in August's 4-3 win away to Arsenal, suggesting Klopp had discussed this rebrand as a long-term option.

Lallana and Henderson have both started in all three of the Reds' fixtures so far, while Wijnaldum has been named as a starting option in two and Can made his first start of the season against Burton on Tuesday night:

• Liverpool starting midfield vs. Arsenal: Henderson, Lallana, Wijnaldum
• Liverpool starting midfield vs. Burnley: Henderson, Lallana, Wijnaldum
• Liverpool starting midfield vs. Burton Albion: Can, Henderson, Lallana

This quartet are firmly established as key players within this new system, while Lucas can be expected to play a considerable role as back-up on his recovery from a hamstring injury suffered during pre-season.

Therefore, Grujic, who travelled to Burton but failed to make Klopp's 18-man squad despite reporting fully fit, faces a fight for a place in Klopp's starting midfield for 2016/17—his only appearance so far came with a difficult 13-minute cameo replacing Lallana when 2-0 down to Burnley.

Competition for places must temper expectations over Grujic's first season with the Reds, but in scoring three goals during this summer's pre-season, including an emphatic looping header in a 4-0 win over Barcelona at Wembley Stadium, the 6'3" midfielder suggested he is ready to shine when called upon.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

It would perhaps be fairest to compare Grujic's likely impact in 2016/17 to that of Stewart and Brannagan combined last season, owing to Klopp's other options and the adjustment required in moving from Serbia to England.

Grujic should hope to be handed around 20 appearances over the course of the season, and expectations must be curbed to some extent, with 2016/17 very much a bedding-in campaign for a player who can go on to big things in Liverpool's No. 16 shirt in the future—as Klopp said, "he is young, so he has to develop."

Jack Lusby will be covering Liverpool throughout 2016/17 as one of Bleacher Report's lead correspondents. Statistics via WhoScored.com and Transfermarkt.co.uk unless otherwise stated.

Follow Jack on Twitter @jacklusby_ and Facebook here.