Swansea City must be feeling like they dodged a bullet by deciding to pass up on signing Lazar Markovic from Liverpool last month.





The Serbian attacker has endured a torrid spell since joining the Reds from Benfica in 2014, hardly getting a shout under German boss Jurgen Klopp. He completed his fourth loan move as a Liverpool player on Transfer Deadline Day, signing a loan deal with Belgian outfit Anderlecht, despite strong interest from the ​Swans.

With 19mins to spare Liverpool have found a new home for Lazar Markovic. Loan move to Anderlecht. #LFC — James Pearce (@JamesPearceEcho) January 31, 2018

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A move to the Liberty Stadium had actually been agreed upon by ​Liverpool and Swansea, yet the 23-year-old is now in the Jupiler Pro League, where he will be hoping to resurrect his career ahead of the upcoming World Cup.





Markovic has already suffered a huge setback, however, as it's been determined that he will need about five weeks to achieve optimal match fitness.

"I think we will be without him for four or five weeks," Anderlecht manager Hein Vanhaezebrouck revealed in quotes cited by WalesOnline .





"He has a very big gap and is conditional not yet ready to play. So there is a lot of work to be done, but we hope that he can make rapid progress. He can play in different positions, but he has to get up to speed quickly."





Swansea, meanwhile, signed Andy King from ​Leicester City on loan until the end of the season. ​Premier League rules made it so that they couldn't have signed another loan player from a top-flight club, but they're very unlikely to regret choosing King over Markovic now.



Gianluigi Buffon You're an absolute club legend! Strong, wise and massively respected by your teammates. Roy Keane You're fiercely committed, outspoken and love to get stuck in! A leader of men who commands respect and demands only the best. John Terry You would run through walls for your team! Commanding in nature and a warrior on the pitch! Cristiano Ronaldo You're the talisman and a class apart from the rest of your team. You're not the loudest, or the bravest, but you deliver the goals and the results! Steven Gerrard You are the absolute heartbeat of your club. A 'Captain Fantastic' that can do it all and leads by example. Your striker has just been cut down by a horrendous tackle, do you... Which of these terms best describes you as a captain? Your fans have booed you after a poor home performance, do you... You're 1-0 down and the team's playing bad, how do you respond? You're 32 and you've been at your boyhood club your entire career, do you...



