Date: 20th January 2015 at 3:25pm
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Liverpool winger Lazar Markovic is hoping to show Jose Mourinho  what he is missing out on when the Reds host Chelsea in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi final this evening, reports the Telegraph.

Mourinho turned down the chance to sign Markovic for £10million in the summer of 2013, whilst Liverpool paid double that price to secure his services from Benfica 12 months later.

Markovic has recently started to repay some of that fee, with a superb performance in the 1-0 win over Sunderland his major highlight.

“That was Mourinho’s opinion. I will play like every other match and I don’t have to prove or show anything to him,” the 20-year-old explained.

“I don’t know who expected me to sign for Chelsea. I signed for Liverpool and I am extremely happy.”

The former president of Partizan Belgrade once claimed Markovic was in fact owned by Chelsea, and would join Benfica on loan for two seasons.

It later transpired that those comments were ‘lost in translation’, and Markovic never signed for the west London club – or was given a tour of Stamford Bridge – as had once been reported.

“What the ex-president [of Partizan] expected is different to what I expected,” he said.

“When I went to Stamford Bridge I was meeting friends of mine there – Matic and Ivanovic. There was never any pressure from them to sign for Chelsea. Of course, there is more motivation to face Chelsea because they are a good team.”

After a slow start to life at Anfield, Markovic looks to have become more settled. He described his recent winning goal at Sunderland as a key moment in his Liverpool career.

“There was a weight off my back when the goal was scored,” he said. “I felt settled here very quickly but maybe my form is a bit better now. It took a bit of time to settle on the pitch.

“I wasn’t losing trust in myself and I was working harder at Melwood. When you are not achieving what you want you have to push yourself more to build yourself and improve.”

 

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