It’s a move, Kerkez to Liverpool, that has seemed almost inevitable for a while, and nobody has kept it a secret.
Kerkez is seemingly the next step in what has already been arguably the biggest summer of acquisitions in Liverpool history, with Florian Wirtz’s signing being confirmed on Friday.
Here is more on the next big transfer, Kerkez.
Milos Kerkez’s early years
Born in modern day Serbia and a Hungary international, Milos Kerkez has taken a long and winding path to reach Anfield.
The multilingual left-back played for a myriad of teams as a youth, including Austrian side Rapid Vienna’s academy for five years before moving to the senior team of Hungarian side Gyor.
Kerkez joined AC Milan in early 2021, but never managed to get a game in the senior team with the Rossoneri.
At one of Europe’s most prestigious clubs at the age of 18, after just one year, Kerkez decided he needed to leave to get more game time. A bold move.
He then joined Dutch side AZ Alkmaar where he managed to establish himself as a prominent first team player, reaching the UEFA Conference league semi-final.
In 2023, after a promising year in the Netherlands a number of clubs were circling, AFC Bournemouth were able to pick him up for an undisclosed fee.
Kerkez on the south coast
“I believe everyone dreams of playing in the best league in the world, that’s the Premier League”.
That’s what Milos Kerkez told an AFC Bournemouth interviewer upon joining the club. He had made it, at the age of 19.
Kerkez got his Bournemouth career off to a great start, earning the trust of head coach Andoni Iraola and earning his place in the team from the first day of the season.
The left-back had a great season overall, playing in all 38 league matches, earning two assists.
Last season, Kerkez’s performances went up another level, earning two goals and six assists, and building up a relationship with left-sided centre-back Dean Huijsen.
The 21-year-old’s underlying statistics were also impressive, particularly on-the-ball, he is in the 85th percentile for progressive carries.
Kerkez also performed well reaching the 78th percentile for interceptions, a facet of the game that Liverpool hold dear.
This excellent season at AFC Bournemouth, was what convinced Liverpool to make the move for Kerkez.
Kerkez’s Liverpool dream
There is another factor in Liverpool’s decision to move for Kerkez, and that is the decline of Andy Robertson, Liverpool’s left-back stalwart.
Robertson, 31, exhibited a sharp drop-off in performance levels last season with his now apparent lack of pace causing him to be too slow in some situations.
This contributed to his 17th minute red card against Fulham in December, and conceding penalties against Southampton and Real Madrid.
Kerkez had a higher tackle percentage than Robertson last season as his physical attributes arguably enable him to be in the correct position more often.
The Hungarian also had more successful take-ons than Robertson, and it is also clear that he has the pace and power to provide something different in the Liverpool team.
It will also be crucial that Kerkez builds up a relationship with Liverpool’s left-sided centre-back Virgil van Dijk.
Kerkez has already built up a relationship with Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, his compatriot, and Liverpool’s 21-year-old signing made his eagerness to sign for Liverpool apparent at an early stage.
Kerkez liked a post about Jeremie Frimpong’s move to Liverpool, and liked a post about his own transfer to the Reds.
It is worth noting that Kerkez already has 23 Hungary caps under his belt, and he seems to hit the sweet spot in terms of number of games he has played, with around 150 senior appearances under his belt.
The Reds enjoy buying plays in that sweet spot at a nascent age before almost running them into the ground, this has arguably happened with Robertson.
The Hungarian need not worry about that now though, he has his best years ahead of him and can look forward to challenging on every front.
Moving to the Premier League champions for around £40m at 21, it is clear that Kerkez backs himself. That bodes well for his time at Liverpool.