'Brilliant' and 'a real character' - Liverpool sign Kerkez for £40m

Liverpool have taken their summer spending to about £170m with the signing of left-back Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth in a deal worth £40m.

The 21-year-old Hungary international has signed a five-year contract with the Reds.

Kerkez is Liverpool's third major signing of the transfer window, following the arrival of attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz and right-back Jeremie Frimpong, both from Bayer Leverkusen.

Liverpool paid a club record £116m, made up of an initial £100m and a further £16m in potential add-ons, for German interntaional Wirtz and £29.5m for Dutchman Frimpong. Hungary Under-21 keeper Armin Pecsi has also arrived at Anfield for a fee of up to £1.5m.

"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," said Kerkez.

"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."

Liverpool will also sign Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili this summer, having agreed a deal to sign him from Valencia for a fee of £25m plus £4m in add-ons last summer.

It is a major step in the career of the left-back, but Kerkez has played for a European 'super club' before.

In early 2021 he received a phone call from AC Milan legend Paolo Maldini, who convinced him to join the Serie A side.

As the 17-year-old Kerkez said at the time, you don't turn down Maldini.

With hindsight, he possibly wishes he had.

The Hungarian never started a competitive match for Milan and a year later was shipped off to AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Bournemouth saw potential in the market and took a chance on Kerkez by signing him for an undisclosed fee in July 2023. The gamble paid off.

Kerkez started all 38 of the Cherries' Premier League games in the 2024-25 season, helping them to a club-record total of 56 points in the top flight.

Kerkez is now at a giant European club once more.

Four years on from his arrival in Milan, will it work out for the full-back this time around?

In short, he was a top performer for the Cherries.

Bournemouth breezed past their top-flight record points total in April and managed to finish in the top half of the Premier League for the second time in their history.

Their fine form was largely thanks to manager Andoni Iraola's high-intensity, high-energy and high-pressing philosophy.

Adventuring up the left side, Kerkez played a major part in the team's success.

The left-back ranked second for the most distanced covered among all Premier League full-backs in 2024-25 - behind only Fulham's Antonee Robinson - and third for most sprints.

He made the third-most crosses from open play in the Premier League and had eight goal involvements (two goals and six assists).

Defensively, Kerkez may not be the game's most prolific tackler, but he is still firmly in the Premier League's top 20 full-backs for interceptions (1.25) and ball recoveries (4.54) per 90 minutes.

Arguably his best game of the season came in Bournemouth's 2-1 home win over champions Manchester City in November when he set up both goals after lung-busting runs and pinpoint crosses.

"Kerkez was brilliant, not only offensively but defensively as well," former Manchester City defender Micah Richards told BBC Match of the Day that evening.

Former Bournemouth defender Joe Partington told BBC Radio Solent a few months later: "He's a standout player. He's involved in moments that define the outcomes of games."

In March, former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha told BBC Sport: "Kerkez is one of the best left-back prospects in the Premier League."

Liverpool currently have an established left-back in Andy Robertson, who played in 33 of 38 league games in the 2024-25 campaign.

Robertson, 31, joined Liverpool from Hull City for £10m in 2017 and has won a raft of major trophies with the club, including a Champions League and two Premier League titles.

But Robertson trailed Kerkez in key areas like assists, distance covered and possession won in the season just ended and is a target for Atletico Madrid.

"If they want that style of full-back, then Kerkez has already shown he can do it in the Premier League," said BBC Radio Solent's Bournemouth commentator Jordan Clarke.

"He's very self-confident. That's what comes across and what you hear from those in the club. He'll back himself going to a big club."

That view is shared by Liverpool fan and podcaster Lukleiva who told BBC Radio Merseyside this month: "Kerkez wouldn't come in and only play half the games.

"He's one of the breakout stars of the Premier League season. You definitely want Kerkez [to start].

"Whether that is something Robertson is willing to side with or whether he'd then want to move on, that's something they need to talk about."

Kerkez's arrival will probably signal the end of the road at Anfield for either Robertson or second-choice left-back Konstantinos Tsimikas.

With Kerkez expected to take Robertson's starting slot, will the Scotland international want to look elsewhere for more regular football?

Kerkez was convinced by five-time Champions League winner Maldini to choose AC Milan when he left Hungarian side Gyor.

He was given some minutes in pre-season in summer 2021 but always ranked behind Milan's more senior left-backs Theo Hernandez and Fode Ballo-Toure.

Kerkez departed for AZ Alkmaar in January 2022 having never played a competitive match for the Serie A club.

The Hungarian told journalist Gianluca di Marzio, external that asking Milan to leave on a permanent basis was "the best decision of my career".

The following season Kerkez played in all but one Eredivisie match as AZ finished third, and he helped his side reach the Europa Conference League semi-finals where they lost 3-1 on aggregate to West Ham.

From there he moved to Bournemouth for an undisclosed fee in summer 2023.

"When Kerkez first arrived, Bournemouth had been looking for a very specific type of attacking full-back, someone who ticked all the boxes," said BBC Radio Solent's Clarke.

"There was a lot of hype around him joining, the fans were excited. He was a very raw talent and he had a few problems early on playing to Bournemouth's intensity and struggling to get through the full 90 minutes. But you could always see the talent was there.

"Credit to Bournemouth's coaches, they've developed him into a brilliant attacking left-back who this season has added goals and assists to his game.

"Defensively too, I can't remember too many times he's been beaten."

One word: haircuts.

Kerkez has had a lot of them in the past year, changing his style, and his barber.

Back in November, Justin Kluivert said he had been given the task of cutting his team-mate's hair.

In the next game, away to Wolves, Kerkez scored one and Kluivert struck a hat-trick.

"That tells you a little bit about the kind of person he is in the dressing room. The confidence and the positivity he brings," added Clarke.

"He's a real character. Kluivert and club captain Adam Smith both talked a lot about their friendship with him. Everyone at Bournemouth loved his energy."