English Premier League champions Liverpool, have agreed a £40m deal to sign left-back Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth.
The 21-year-old Hungary international is set to join the Premier League champions after two seasons with the Cherries.
Bournemouth have already signed Adrien Truffert from Rennes as his replacement.
Liverpool’s deal for Kerkez comes with the Reds close to completing a club-record £116m move for Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz.
They have also signed Dutch right-back Jeremie Frimpong from the German club for £29.5m.
Serbia-born Kerkez began his senior career at Hungarian side Gyor before a move to Italian club AC Milan.
He failed to make an appearance for the Serie A outfit before switching to Dutch team AZ Alkmaar in January 2022.
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He helped AZ Alkmaar finish fourth in the Dutch top flight in 2022-23 when he scored five goals and provided seven assists in 52 appearances.
The Eredivisie side also reached the semi-finals of the 2022-23 Europa Conference League before being beaten by eventual winners West Ham.
Kerkez joined Bournemouth in summer 2023 when Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes worked for the Cherries.
He played all 38 league games last season as Bournemouth finished ninth with a club-record 56 Premier League points, with Kerkez contributing two goals and six assists.
Kerkez, who has made 23 appearances for Hungary, will join compatriot Dominik Szoboszlai at Liverpool.
His expected arrival at Anfield leaves the future of Reds left-backs Andy Robertson, who has been linked with Atletico Madrid, and Kostas Tsimikas unclear.
Liverpool are keen to retain Robertson and allow current back-up Tsimikas to leave, but they acknowledge that the 31-year-old Scot Robertson may want to move on in search of regular football.
In terms of how Liverpool play football, Kerkez appears to be the perfect full-back.
Although former manager Jurgen Klopp’s ‘heavy metal’ style of fast-paced, high-pressing football has been adapted by successor Arne Slot, the fundamentals of aggressive pressing in a more structured way – and trying to win the ball high up the pitch still remain.
The 21-year-old recovered the ball 169 times last season – the fifth-most of any defender in the Premier League and more than any Liverpool defender. He also won the ball in the Cherries’ attacking third 11 times – the ninth most of defenders in the division and again more than any of his potential future Reds team-mates.
In a Bournemouth team that eventually finished ninth, the Hungary international created 34 chances from open play – the seventh most by a defender – and registered five assists, which placed him joint-fourth in that ranking.
His 142 crosses were the sixth-most and his eight big chances created was the seventh most among defenders.
In terms of ball progression, Kerkez passed into the final third 476 times – the 10th most times of any Premier League defender, while no Liverpool defender completed more dribbles than his 22.
The statistics show Kerkez is well placed to adapt at Anfield in terms of what Slot requires from his full-backs both defensively and offensively.
(Editor: Paul Akhagbemhe)
