Will Kerkez be worth buying at Liverpool?

Two early transfer trends of this summer have involved Bournemouth’s defence being picked apart and champions Liverpool strengthening while in pole position. Blending both of these is the eventual confirmation of left-back Milos Kerkez for around £40m, which sounds like it’s imminent.

He joins the addition of wing-back Jeremie Frimpong and attacking sensation Florian Wirtz. Add-on fees could see the latter become a British transfer record.

So, after a fruitful time at the Cherries, what Fantasy Premier League (FPL) impact will 21-year-old Kerkez have as a Liverpool player?

We’ll take a look during this Moving Target piece, including data and images from our Premium Members Area.

THE HISTORY

Born in Serbia, the Hungarian international began as a young teenager in Austria with Rapid Wien, before moving to Győr aged 16.

It didn’t take long for him to grab Paolo Maldini’s attention, and a phone call from the iconic AC Milan legend was all it took to convince Kerkez to join the Rossoneri in early 2021.

Seeking first-team action, he switched to AZ Alkmaar 12 months later, though the first few months were about integration.

This means that Kerkez has only played three full seasons, helping the Dutch side to a fourth-placed Eredivisie finish plus a run to the Conference League semi-final in 2022/23.

It thrust the youngster onto the radar of many big clubs, but he wisely decided that Bournemouth was the right move for him, under the guidance of Andoni Iraola.

2023/24 ended with a low 59 FPL points due to a lack of attacking output and starts being shared with Lloyd Kelly. An own goal didn’t help, nor did the red card that brought a three-match ban.

However, last season’s 134 points ensured Kerkez was the game’s sixth-best defender (see below). He started all 38 occasions, accumulating two goals and six assists despite an expected goal involvement (xGI) of just 3.17.

Both goals in a 2-1 win over Manchester City derived from him, going on to assist in three successive matches between Gameweeks 27 and 29. This run saw him spend some time in over two million FPL squads.

Furthermore, such a strong season impressed real-life football people. Kerkez is currently one of six nominees for PFA’s Young Player of the Year.

PLAYING STYLE

Richard Hughes knows exactly what he’s buying, considering the Sporting Director purchased Kerkez while in a similar role at Bournemouth.

Liverpool are getting a left-back who is full of energy and running power, an attack-minded ball carrier who loves putting it in the box. In 2024/25, he ranked sixth amongst defenders for crosses (142) and joint-fifth for successful ones (39).

Above: Statsbomb analyses Kerkez’s 36 chances created, which led to five strikes and an own goal

While Kerkez was nowhere near the best in his position for taking shots, he set up eight big chances for others and made the fourth-most touches in the opposition half (1,253) of all defenders.

Overall, just two of them received more passes (487) in the final third. But at least Bournemouth fans can feel relieved that incoming replacement Adrien Truffert is also good at these.

Bringing stamina to Anfield, Kerkez was behind only Daniel Munoz, Antonee Robinson and Bryan Mbeumo for Premier League sprints (845). His strike at Newcastle United in January came from a lung-busting stoppage-time surge.

WHERE KERKEZ FITS IN AT LIVERPOOL

On a personal level, he gets to join international colleague Dominik Szoboszlai on Merseyside.

And as a defence, Liverpool kept the most clean sheets (14) of last season, conceding the second-fewest goals (41). Before taking any attacking instincts into account, Kerkez should therefore collect points at a steady rate.

The era of masterful duo Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson peaked with 17 goals and 110 assists between 2018/19 and 2022/23 but, with one now at Real Madrid and the other seemingly slowing down, it’s time for Arne Slot to further evolve the playing style away from Jurgen Klopp’s.

After five seasons of coming first or second for overall team crosses, Liverpool’s 729 were down in fifth for 2024/25.

But maybe the additions of Kerkez and the insanely attacking Frimpong, who contributed to a massive 63 goals in his latest three campaigns, indicate that Slot will be sticking with the combination of flying full-backs and a trio of pragmatic midfielders.

In front of that, Wirtz was a left-sided number ten at Leverkusen. So will the German be deployed centrally, or as a narrow, left-sided forward that drifts inside? Kerkez both overlapped and underlapped on many occasions for the Cherries.

Above: Opta shows a large number of Kerkez overlaps (left) and underlaps (right) throughout 2024/25

FPL managers should still remember that brilliant assist away to Tottenham Hotspur, when he intercepted the ball and ran unchallenged for almost 50 yards before delivering a beautifully accurate cross for Marcus Tavernier. Imagine that in Liverpool’s weekly lineup.

WILL KERKEZ BE WORTH BUYING IN FPL?

We don’t yet know his FPL price, but at least the Reds’ full fixture list is known.

Naturally, Gameweek 1 is at home to Kerkez’s former club Bournemouth, though subsequent meetings with Newcastle and Arsenal don’t look particularly clean sheet friendly.

A starting price of £5.5m seems fair, knowing he doesn’t need a Premier League adaptation period. But will he consistently start ahead of whoever remains from Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas?

Both have been linked with moves away, but the Champions League gets underway after Gameweek 4. Kerkez is young, joining a title-winning defence, making early rotation seem reasonable. Perhaps we’ll get a clearer answer from August’s Community Shield encounter.