Liverpool "reach agreement" to sign Belgian wonderkid Lucca Brughmans in £30m deal

Liverpool are set to complete a surprise signing worth £30m, and a medical is currently being undertaken as of Monday morning.

It’s promising to be a hectic end to the summer transfer window at Anfield, with the Reds aiming to sign a right winger ahead of selling Cody Gakpo to Manchester City for £85m.

While we have all been focussed on wingers, Liverpool have also been busy working on reshaping their goalkeeping ranks. With around 36 hours until the transfer window slams shut, it is set to be all change in this department.

As reported by Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool have "reached a verbal agreement" with KRC Genk to sign goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans for €35 million, which is almost exactly £30 million. He adds that a medical has already been scheduled, while the plan is for the 18 year old to be loaned back to de Smurfen, before arriving on Merseyside in 12 months time. However, that could change.

Journalist Sacha Tavolieri adds that Brugmans will remain a Liverpool player "if Giorgi Mamardashvili signs for Nottingham Forest". The Georgian international has been attracting serious interest from the Tricky Trees, after they had a bid rejected by Crystal Palace for Dean Henderson.

Mamardashvili endured a rough first season at Anfield. Across 20 appearances, he conceded 34 goals and kept only three clean sheets, with Arne Slot's team winning only seven of these matches, actually losing 12. So, they could be set to cash in on the 25 year old?

There are though parallels with the proposed deal for the teenaged Belgian and the one the Reds did to recruit Mamardashvili. The Georgian put pen to paper in August 2024, but spent that season remaining on loan at Valencia, where he continued to be one of La Liga's best goalkeepers. Thus, a year later, with Caoimhin Kelleher sold to Brentford, Mamardashvili arrived on Merseyside.

The Liverpool hierarchy seemingly have a similar plan for Brughmans, but there is one key difference. The 18 year old, has made just 15 senior appearances to date, his Jupiler Pro League debut coming as recently as 3 April against Royal Antwerp at Bosuilstadion.

On the flip side, by the time he was unveiled as a Liverpool player, Mamardashvili has racked up over 200 senior club appearances, as well as winning 29 international caps, starting all four of Georgia's matches at Euro 2024. He played 134 times for Valencia, one of Spain's biggest clubs, certainly ready to make the step up, even if he rarely showed it in a Liverpool shirt.

Thus, if Brughmans is to be Andoni Iraola's second-choice goalkeeper, behind an injury prone Alisson, that might be a massive risk. The 6ft 7in shot-stopper is clearly very talented, we just don't have enough of a sample size to know how he would fare representing one of the biggest clubs on the planet.

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