Jürgen Klopp is confident that Marko Grujić has a long-term future at Liverpool although the midfielder could leave the club on loan in January.
The Serbian international has made only one start and four substitute appearances this season, playing a little over 100 minutes in total due to the competition for places at Anfield.
The agent of the 21-year-old, who also found his opportunities limited last term and has often featured for the under-23s, spoke recently to suggest his client should be loaned out to continue his development.
"He's right, Marko deserves to play more now," admitted Klopp when asked about Grujić's lack of game-time and his agent's comments. "If it's not possible here [at Liverpool], then we need to think about it [a loan]."
"Grujić has made serious progress despite lack of minutes"
The German declared that he likes Grujić "a lot" and praised him for making "progress like hell", insisting that his heading ability "is outstanding" but acknowledging "he doesn't make the squad a lot which isn't the best thing for him."
"We will think about it," Klopp said on the possibility of a temporary move away for the youngster. "We always want to help the players."
But he insisted that the club "have to think about ourselves", suggesting that they first must work out whether they will need Grujić at the club for the second-half of the campaign.
Klopp continued: "I really see Marko in the future playing for Liverpool, but he's not playing in the moment so we have to see what we can do to make it more likely that he comes through in the near future."
The Reds' No.16 joined from Red Red Star Belgrade for £5.1 million in January 2016, moving to Merseyside in the summer after spending the remainder of that season on loan at his boyhood club in Serbia.
But injury and a lack of games - with Liverpool not in Europe - meant that his chances were limited and he started only twice all season, both times in the League Cup, and made just eight appearances in total.
Liverpool have an abundance of options in midfield, with captain Jordan Henderson, Philippe Coutinho, Emre Can, Gini Wijnaldum, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and the almost--fully-fit-again Adam Lallana all ahead of Grujić in the pecking order.
But Grujić can expect to feature, should he still be at the club, in their FA Cup third-round fixture on the weekend of Saturday 6th January 2018. The draw will take place on Friday 4th December to determine who Klopp's side will face.