Liverpool are on the verge of tying up a move for left-back Milos Kerkez, to become their second summer transfer.
Since winning a record-equalling 20th English championship, Liverpool have picked up just one point from their last three games, with Brighton and Hove Albion suckerpunching the Reds with a 3-2 win at the Amex on Monday night.
After the game, Dutch manager Arne Slot refused to be drawn into speculation about Jeremie Frimpong’s imminent move to Anfield – and may have indeed tied up their second deal of the summer, too.
Liverpool have closed agreement with Milos Kerkez to join the Reds
With Trent Alexander-Arnold on his way to Real Madrid and Andrew Robertson having suffered from a drop-off in form this term, Slot has sought to bolster his team in both full-back areas.
After reliable transfer guru Paul Joyce of The Times confirmed that the Reds are formally triggering Frimpong’s £30 million release clause, Bournemouth left-back Kerkez was a matter of discussion on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, with Sky pundit Gary Neville claiming he expects the deal to be tied up shortly.
According to sources in a report from TEAMtalk, the 21-year-old has agreed “a long-term contract until 2030”, affirming information relayed by transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, who described the Hungarian as being “in advanced talks” in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
As long ago as March, Romano said in another post that with the full-back having switched agents, Bournemouth were prepared for an exit, and that Liverpool were in the queue for Kerkez’ signature – while Manchester United were credited as with an interest in the player last summer, prior to their capture of Patrick Dorgu in January.
Kerkez is recognised by FourFourTwo in our list of the best left-backs in the world and over the past two seasons, has helped the seasiders to successive record points tallies, having joined from AZ in the Netherlands in 2023 – signing under then-Cherries director Richard Hughes, who has since moved to Merseyside himself.
FourFourTwo understands that offers for Kostas Tsimikas will be considered, with Andrew Robertson still wanted by the Reds for his experience, with transfer expert Ben Jacobs telling FourFourTwo exclusively in January that it was Anfield policy not to sell first-team stars to make way for their successors.
“Liverpool sign the player for now and the future – but they keep the player they value, and there’s a transition season or period,” Jacobs said. “They [don’t want have] to sign a player and facilitate an exit, but to keep that player, and give themselves more in the future with their succession planning.”
Kerkez is worth €35m, according to Transfermarkt. Liverpool travel to Crystal Palace when Premier League action returns next Sunday for the final day of the season.
After two big sales and another potentially on the horizon… what now for Bournemouth?
With Bournemouth flying midseason, a post on social media did the rounds claiming that they were fated to become “the new Southampton 2014“: a team of world-beaters in its infancy, ready to picked apart by predators in the transfer market.
There’s a quintessentially “Barclaysmen” feel to this Bournemouth side: a rag-tag group of bargains who others foolishly discarded – how did Juventus let Dean Huijsen slip through the net? Ditto Milan with Kerkez? – but with this being 2025, that makes the Cherries a selling club.
And with that comes worry. Uncertainty. A springtime slump may have dimmed Dean Court’s spotlight, but the vultures are clearly still swooping for talent – and Hughes, the mastermind behind recent transfer successes, has gone. Have Bournemouth peaked already?
In the case of Kerkez, it’s relatively simple: Julio Soler joined in January, groomed to replace the outgoing Hungarian, whose exit has been on the cards with such ferocious development.
Huijsen is a unicorn and harder to replace. He wasn’t expected to play as much as he has this season, stepping in for Marcos Senesi through injury – and while Bournemouth probably would have liked to get another season out of him, it’s clear he’s destined for the top.
And then there are the likes of Antoine Semenyo, Justin Kluivert and Dango Ouattara, who have all enjoyed fantastic seasons – but none of them feel like a sure enough bet and none of them have release clauses.
How Bournemouth look to strengthen in the summer with be intriguing because not only will they look to repeat their same transfer feats, they’ll want to squeeze more from Alex Scott, Enes Unal, Luis Sinisterra and Julian Araujo: potentially fantastic pick-ups who have been unlucky with injury so far.
And anyway, the last time Iraola made a major sale – Dominic Solanke – he reinvested a huge chunk of that money in a new record signing. It would be premature to suggest the Cherries have peaked just yet, with around £90m coming in from two sales to plough back into the squad…
