Liverpool are expected to be in the running for Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez when the Hungary international goes on the market in the summer.
Kerkez, 21, will command a fee upward of £40million at the end of the campaign after seeing his value increase in the last two seasons following his move from AZ Alkmaar in Holland in a deal worth £15.5million.
He was signed at the Vitality Stadium by Richard Hughes, Bournemouth’s technical director at the time who has since moved to Anfield as sporting director where he has a key role in transfers and planning future deals for Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.
Kerkez is thought to be on Liverpool’s radar for when they look at bolstering their options at left-back, should they add competition to Andy Robertson and Konstantinos Tsimikas in that specialist position. Other clubs in Europe are set to be part of the race for Kerkez, with a departure on the cards in the next window.
Liverpool have been reliant on Robertson, 30, since his arrival from Hull City in 2017, while Tsimikas has been back-up for the last five seasons since joining from Olympiacos.
Liverpool could look in that area for added support in the summer when they look to build on Slot’s excellent first season in English football where his team have become champions-elect at the start of March.
Much of the focus has been on whether Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold will agree new deals but regardless of their future, Liverpool are expected to look at signings to add to Slot’s squad.
Kerkez has established himself as one of the biggest left-back prospects in Europe after his emergence in the last two seasons, with Bournemouth beating competition from Lazio to land him from AZ and giving him a platform to showcase his talent.
The Serbia-born defender was at AC Milan as a youngster but got his breakthrough in senior football at AZ where he was a regular in the Eredivisie before Bournemouth made their move.
