According to Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool are in pole position in the transfer race to sign Milos Kerkez this summer.
Having already more or less wrapped up a deal for Jeremie Frimpong and seemingly determined to push the boat out to acquire his Bayer Leverkusen teammate Florian Wirtz, there’s another oft-mentioned target on whom Richard Hughes appears to be making steady progress.
In the latest episode of GIVEMESPORT’s Market Madness podcast, Romano was asked where things currently stand with the Premier League champions’ pursuit of the Bournemouth left-back.
Romano: Liverpool ‘leading the race’ for Kerkez
The journalist replied: “Liverpool are leading the race, in very positive contact with the agent of the player, who is the same agent who represents Federico Chiesa, so a very good relationship with Liverpool.
“The player would be very keen on the move, so the conversation is positive also in this case. It’s not in the final stages yet, not done yet, so we have to be more patient compared to Jeremie Frimpong, which has been a very fast deal. In this case there are more clubs involved, and this is why Liverpool are working on it.
“Liverpool are advancing, but careful until the end, because there are other clubs looking for left-backs in the market, so we have to see what happens there.
“What I can guarantee is that Kerkez would be very happy to join Liverpool. The message from the player’s camp to the club has already arrived. They are discussing personal terms.
“There has already been direct contact between Liverpool and Bournemouth to discuss the price tag, so the conversation is ongoing step by step. After Frimpong, Liverpool also want to add one more left-back to the squad.”
Liverpool have several things going in their favour in Kerkez pursuit
Between Kerkez’s agent Fali Ramadani also representing Chiesa, and Hughes being the sporting director who oversaw the Hungarian defender’s move to Bournemouth in 2023, there are a couple of pre-existing relationships which appear to tip the scales in Liverpool’s favour.
The 21-year-old’s apparent eagerness to sign for the Reds should also help, and if we’re at a stage where personal terms and transfer fees are being discussed, that strongly hints at a decent progression having already been made in negotiations.
The rumoured presence of other suitors will obviously keep LFC on their toes, but Romano’s update suggests that they’re further along the track than any other clubs who may be in for the left-back.
Even if a deal could take another few weeks to complete, to sign Kerkez on top of securing Frimpong would hugely regenerate the full-back positions at Anfield by adding two readymade starters who could both viably play for Liverpool for the next decade, given their youth.
Hughes was slow to dip into the market last summer in his first transfer window at the helm in L4, but now that he’s had a year in the job, he’s demonstrably determined to get ahead of the curve and wrap up several signings sooner rather than later as he attempts to seize upon the club’s status as Premier League champions!
