Milos Kerkez has described joining Liverpool in a £40m deal fromBournemouthas a “real honour” and a “privilege”. The 21-year-old left-back has signed a five-year deal with the Premier League champions and is the club’s third arrival this summer, following that of Jeremie Frimpong and Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.
Kerkez, who links up with fellow Hungary international Dominik Szoboszlai at Anfield, is viewed as the long-term successor to Andy Robertson, who is a target for Atlético Madrid. It is understood, however, thatLiverpoolhave no intention of forcing out the 31-year-old Scotland captain, who started in 29 of his 33 Premier League appearances last season but is in the final year of his contract.
“I’m really happy,” said Kerkez. “It’s a real honour for me, a privilege to come to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world, [the] biggest club in England. I’m just really, really happy and excited.
“After this, I’ll go home and in my hometown enjoy a few days, and then I can’t really wait to come back and put the training kit on and start to train and prepare for the season.”
Kerkez joins Arne Slot’s side after two impressive seasons at Bournemouth, who he signed for from AZ Alkmaar in the summer of 2023. In total he made 74 appearances for the south-coast club, scoring two goals and providing eight assists. He also has 23 caps for his country.
With Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili also joining next monthin a deal done last year, Liverpool’s spending for the new season has now passed the £200m-mark, withhalf of that spent on Wirtzin what is a club-record £100m fee and could, with add-ons, become a British-record fee.