Latest news with #AndoniIraola
BBC News
17 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'Speed of change has not slowed' - Kerkez's rapid rise to Liverpool
Milos Kerkez has never been big on patience. "That's always the problem," he joked midway through his breakout season at AZ Alkmaar, a teenager already agitating to play more, train harder and reach 18-year-old's would have been happy just to be there. Kerkez wanted more - and always has. From leaving AC Milan's academy to become a first-team starter in the Eredivisie, to rejecting bigger names for a chance to explode at Bournemouth, his trajectory has only ever pointed one was born in Serbia and moved to Hungary at 15, vowing immediately to represent their national team. He captained youth sides despite barely speaking the language. "He's a crazy guy," one youth coach said. "He'll make it to a top-three league or be in prison." After all, Kerkez started as a number 10. By 16, he had moved to left-back and then, at 17, he signed for Milan. The speed of change has not AZ, the club handed him a dossier thicker than a phone book, containing stats on his reaction time, pressing habits and recovery devoured it. He tackled with his head, launched touchline assaults like a man possessed and emerged as one of Europe's most relentless full-backs. Bournemouth came calling with a well-crafted pitch - and won out over bigger then, he has been a talisman in Andoni Iraola's turbo-charged system, combining ferocity in defence with electricity going the pitch he is a Twitch streamer, a Fortnite fanatic and a forest fisherman. Maximus the rottweiler waits at home and, in Serbia, so does his father's dream of a farm and training centre, which Milos now hopes to is fiery and funny, and friends with new Liverpool team-mate Dominik when the Hungary starlet rifles into a top corner or tackles a winger with his forehead, you realise the kid from Vrbas is not just rising. He is he is doing it his way.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'Liverpool fans will take to Kerkez'
BBC Radio Solent's Jordan Clark says Milos Kerkez has developed "a great deal" at Bournemouth but feels there is more to come from him. Having covered the full-back extensively when working for the station, Clark told BBC Radio Merseyside: "I think Liverpool fans will take to him very quickly. He is a player that can get you from one end of the pitch to the other very quickly and cause some damage at the right end of the pitch but also has developed into a really good defender too over the last couple of seasons."One goal that stands out to me from last season was the one Bournemouth scored at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium where he picked the ball up on the edge of his own 18-yard area and before you knew it, the ball was in the back of the net at the other end."That was the other thing they really wanted to add to his game this season, Andoni Iraola spoke about it and Kerkez himself talked about it quite a bit himself too - was more in the final third. "You could see the potential there but certainly in the season just gone by he has added assists and a couple of goals to go with that as well. A really exciting prospect who has already developed a great deal over the last couple of seasons and you only feel there is more to come from him too."Personality-wise I think Liverpool fans will take to him. He's a bit of a livewire, high energy, definitely one of the louder ones in the dressing room, lots of personality and I'm sure that will fit in nicely at Anfield."Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds
New York Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Milos Kerkez to Liverpool: Transfers TLDR
Milos Kerkez has joined Liverpool from Bournemouth in a deal worth around £40million ($54m). The Hungarian left-back, who joined Andoni Iraola's side in July 2023 from AZ in the Netherlands and made 74 appearances, has signed an five-year deal to join Arne Slot's Premier League champions. As part of this summer's transfer coverage on The Athletic, in addition to breaking news, tactical analysis and in-depth reads, our Transfers TLDR series (you can read them all here) will bring you a quick guide to each of the key deals. Kerkez grew up in Vrbas, Serbia — a hometown he returns to every chance he gets, given his football career took him away at age 11, when he joined Austria's Rapid Vienna. He now represents Hungary as payback for the coaching and care he received in that country, having played for Hodmezovasarhelyi and Gyor. Advertisement A video call with iconic left-back Paolo Maldini (then Milan's sporting director) led to the Italians signing Kerkez in February 2021. A year later, he went Dutch, transferring to AZ to kick-start his career. It worked: Bournemouth spent a reported £15.5million ($21m) on him in July 2023. Caoimhe O'Neill Whether he is overlapping or underlapping, Kerkez does everything with unrivalled levels of energy. Expect to see lung-busting runs from the first minute to the last from a player who started all 38 of Bournemouth's league games last season. Don't think of him as a full-back who just wants to get forward at every opportunity, though. While Kerkez loves adding to the attack, he takes his defensive work just as seriously and will happily glue himself to an opposition winger for an entire game. Caoimhe O'Neill Kerkez was much more active in the attacking half last season compared to 2023-24, as the graph below shows. He formed Bournemouth's potent left-sided offensive axis, alongside centre-back Dean Huijsen (since bought by Real Madrid) and winger Antoine Semenyo. The Hungarian's dynamism shone as he ranked sixth among Premier League full-backs in progressive carries (4.4 per 90 minutes) and was crucial to Bournemouth's high-intensity pressing. In contrast, Liverpool left-back Andy Robertson inverted into midfield more often last season, as the next graph shows, while assisting more with build-up too. Kerkez's arrival (along with that of Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen, who plays down the right) suggests Liverpool's offensive approach will evolve next season. Kerkez is 5ft 11in (180cm) but has struggled in aerial duels, while his eagerness to win the ball can lead to him conceding fouls. But he will help Liverpool restrict opponents with his aggressive pressing, while his ball-carrying and crossing will add unpredictability to their attack. Anantaajith Raghuraman Kerkez has had no serious injuries across his career, though he was absent for Hungary during the November international break with a knee issue. Before playing 98 per cent of Bournemouth's league minutes last season, Kerkez was available for 31 of their top-flight games in 2023-24, sitting out a month on either side of Christmas with an unspecified injury and three late-season matches after getting sent off. Advertisement He started 33 of the 34 Eredivisie matches for AZ in 2022-23 too, with the one he missed also being due to suspension. Anantaajith Raghuraman After spending an hour in the company of Kerkez in March, what struck me was his confidence. All players who play in the Premier League have to be confident, sure. But the players who make it to the very, very top have this unwavering belief that they will — and you can see it in their eyes, hear it in their voice. Kerkez has that sort of drive, and before I left Bournemouth I told him I would think back to the interview in years to come when he wins the Premier League and Champions League. His eyes widened and he smiled, because he believes those things will happen. Caoimhe O'Neill Kerkez has joined Liverpool on a five-year deal, ending in June have paid Bournemouth £40million for the 21-year-old left-back. Liverpool's 2024-25 accounting period ended on May 31, so from their perspective, this deal is registered within their 2025-26 financials. The fee paid for Kerkez makes this deal the fourth-biggest player sale in Bournemouth's history, behind the departures of Dominic Solanke (Tottenham Hotspur), Huijsen (Real Madrid) and Nathan Ake (Manchester City). All bar the Ake deal (which was only £1m more than this one) have come within the past 12 months, so the profit on all three will provide a healthy boost to Bournemouth's 2024-25 financials. Chris Weatherspoon Assuming agent fees of 10 per cent on the transfer and associated levies, Kerkez's signing will add £8.4milllion in amortisation costs to Liverpool's 2025-26 figures, then a further £9.1m per season in the four years from 2026-27 to 2029-30. A final £748,000 of amortisation would then fall into the opening month of their 2030-31 accounts. Advertisement Kerkez's wage at his new club is unknown but will, as ever, take the cost over his five-year contract well beyond the estimated £45.6m price of acquiring his registration. In the case of Bournemouth's finances, Kerkez signed from AZ in July 2023 for a reported £15.5million. Based on that figure, with assumed other fees and levies accounted for on top, his value on their books at the time of this move is £10.8m — so the deal has generated a chunky accounting profit for them. Whether AZ, Kerkez's former side, are due a sell-on fee from the deal is unknown — AZ did not respond to a request for comment from The Athletic. With no sell-on, Bournemouth's profit would be £29.2million but, even if a sell-on clause does exist and the proportion due to AZ was as high as 20 per cent, they'd still record around £24.8m profit on Kerkez's sale. Chris Weatherspoon
The Guardian
20-06-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Liverpool agree deal to sign Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth for £40m
Liverpool have agreed a deal to sign Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth for £40m. The left-back is to undergo a medical next week before signing a five-year deal with the Premier League champions. The 21-year-old Hungary international has enjoyed two impressive seasons with Bournemouth after joining from AZ in July 2023, helping them finish ninth last season. Liverpool already have two left-backs in Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas. Robertson is of interest to Atlético Madrid and Tsimikas could well leave after spending five years largely as a back-up to the Scotland captain. Bournemouth have already brought in a replacement for Kerkez – Adrien Tuffert from Rennes, who will battle with January arrival Julio Soler for a starting place under Andoni Iraola next season. Liverpool are working hard in the transfer market. They have already completed a £29.5m deal for right-back Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen and are close to signing Florian Wirtz from the Bundesliga club. The Germany playmaker had a medical on Friday ahead of completing a £100m move to Merseyside. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion There is likely to be further dealings between Liverpool and Leverkusen with the two clubs in talks over a deal for Jarell Quansah. The centre-back, who is currently representing England at the European Under-21 Championship, is valued at more than £30m by the Anfield club.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Liverpool 'agrees Milos Kerkez transfer' as medical booked hours after Florian Wirtz update
Liverpool look set to bolster their squad for their Premier League title defence further after it was confirmed the Reds have agreed on a deal worth around $54 million (£40m) for Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez. Advertisement The Hungarian international had been heavily linked with a move to Anfield this summer, with Liverpool viewing Kerkez as their long-term replacement for Andy Robertson, who has been himself linked with a move to Atletico Madrid. The Athletic report Liverpool has reached an agreement with Bournemouth over Kerkez in a deal worth around $54m (£40m), with the 21-year-old set to ink a five-year deal on Merseyside in the coming days. Having joined Bournemouth back in July 2023 from AZ Alkmaar, Kerkez has impressed on the south coast under the guidance of Andoni Iraola, who has already brought in a replacement for the Hungarian in the form of Adrian Truffert from Rennes. READ MORE: Crystal Palace chase Marc Guehi replacement as Liverpool handed transfer boost READ MORE: Florian Wirtz transfer verdict speaks volumes amid Liverpool medical and Bayern Munich truth Advertisement Kerkez started all 38 Premier League games for Bournemouth last season, scoring six goals and registering two assists. "As a kid, you dream to play at the highest level, win the trophies, be on the best teams," Kerkez told The Athletic in March. The move by Liverpool to land Kerkez is another transfer the Reds have opted to wrap up early this summer. They have already signed Jeremie Frimpong as Trent Alexander-Arnold's replacement, and look set to sign Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz, who is edging closer to becoming a Liverpool player. The deal for Wirtz, who flew into the UK on Thursday ahead of finalizing his transfer that could reach a fee of $157 million (£116 million), will likely be confirmed officially in the coming days. Milos Kerkez looks set to join Liverpool this summer -Credit:Getty Images "I think he's the best player (Germany has) got," former Liverpool midfielder Didi Hamann said on the Aldo Meets podcast this week. Advertisement "Obviously he won't be cheap, but I think he's a player who makes other players better. "[Bayern Munich's Jamal] Musiala likes to dribble, he likes to play on his own. But Wirtz is somebody, because if you look at the team now, Frimpong, I think he's valued at 40 million, he's coming for, he came to Leverkusen for probably half the money. "And part of the reason why all the team is now worth probably a double of what they were worth before is Wirtz, because he brings them into play. "He's got a great eye for his teammates, he's got a brilliant touch, he can finish himself. "And he always got an eye for the pass. Obviously one thing is seeing the pass, the other thing is executing. But he does both. Advertisement "For me, he's probably the best player in Europe in the position at the moment. And he played in a team that finished, well, they were 16th or 17th when Alonso took over. So they end up winning the league the season after, this year they finished second." Florian Wirtz is set to complete his Liverpool medical this week -Credit:Getty Images Hamann added: "Part of the reason, or the biggest reason, is Florian Wirtz. And if he comes to a team, which is even better than Leverkusen, I think it could be a perfect match. "I don't think it will take too long, if he does come here, which I think he will, before the punters love him here. And the thing, why I think he will be a success, is that he can look after himself. He's like a street kid. So he won't shirk a challenge. "He will be looked after by his teammates, I'm pretty sure, because he will be one of the main players next season. But if he needs to, he can look after himself. And he won't be worried, he won't be afraid of any physical presence shown against him."
