Liverpool

Nat Hayward
BBC Sport journalist

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In terms of how Liverpool play football, Milos Kerkez appears the perfect full-back.

Although Jurgen Klopp's 'heavy metal' style of fast-paced, high-pressing football has been adapted by Arne Slot, the fundamentals of aggressive pressing - albeit in a more structured way - and trying to win the ball high up the pitch still remain.

The 21-year-old recovered the ball 169 times last season - the fifth-most of any defender in the Premier League and more than any Liverpool defender. He also won the ball in Bournemouth's attacking third 11 times - the ninth most of defenders in the division and again more than any of his potential future Reds team-mates.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, a fundamental source of creativity, has already departed Anfield, with Andy Robertson also linked with an exit. Should the deal be completed, Kerkez is seen as a long-term replacement for the left-back role the Scotland international has made his own over the past eight years.

In a Bournemouth team that eventually finished ninth, the Hungary international created 34 chances from open play - the seventh most by a defender - and registered five assists which placed him joint-fourth in that ranking.

His 142 crosses were the sixth-most - behind Robertson in fifth and Alexander-Arnold in fourth and his eight big chances created was the seventh most among defenders - a metric topped by the man now at Real Madrid.

In terms of ball progression, Kerkez passed into the final third 476 times - the 10th most times of any Premier League defender - behind the Reds' two first choice full-backs last season. No Liverpool defender completed more dribbles than his 22.

Translating such form from a side punching above their weight to a team now expected to win almost every match is never a forgone conclusion, but the statistics show Kerkez is well placed to adapt at Anfield to what Arne Slot requires from his full-backs, both defensively and offensively.

The prospect of him playing alongside players of a higher standard is likely to excite Liverpool fans - and potentially ease the blow of losing at least one of their two first-choice full-backs.

*All stats provided by Opta

Liverpool are set to complete the club record signing of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen within the next 24 hours.

The £116m deal for the 22-year-old smashes the Reds' record £75m fee paid for captain Virgil van Dijk from in 2018.

But, what next in this already eventful summer transfer window?

Trent Alexander-Arnold has already left for Real Madrid and fellow full-back Andy Robertson is also linked with a move away.

Whether this materialises or not, Robertson looks likely to be replaced as first choice by Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez, while Alexander-Arnold's successor Jeremie Frimpong has already been signed from Bayer Leverkusen.

Now, Leverkusen are accelerating their interest in defender Jarell Quansah and Liverpool are interested in signing Crystal Palace skipper Marc Guehi.

Speculation continues to surround the futures of Darwin Nunez and Joe Gomez - with reports linking the pair with a move away in Friday's BBC Sport gossip column - while it is being reported the Reds could table a big-money bid, external for Newcastle's main man Alexander Isak.

So, what do see happening next? Should the focus be on outgoings or incomings? And what is the key priority for the rest of the summer?

Let us know here

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Details of the 2025 Community Shield have been confirmed by the FA.

FA Cup winners Crystal Palace will face Premier League champions Liverpool in the traditional season curtain-raiser at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, 10 August at 15:00 BST.

The match will be broadcast live TNT Sports.

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The Professional Footballers' Association has announced its shortlist for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, with six standout Premier League performers in the running.

Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Alexis Mac Allister are joined by Newcastle United's Alexander Isak, Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes, Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice and Chelsea star Cole Palmer.

Salah continued his remarkable consistency for Liverpool, while Mac Allister impressed in his second season at Anfield.

Isak's clinical finishing helped Newcastle to a strong league campaign, and Fernandes remained a creative force despite United's mixed form.

Rice was pivotal in Arsenal's push in the league and Europe, and Palmer continued to show great form at Stamford Bridge with a series of match-winning displays.

The winner, voted for by fellow professionals, will be announced later this summer.

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Sami Mokbel
Senior football correspondent

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Liverpool's £116m swoop for Florian Wirtz is in its final stages of completion.

The Bayer Leverkusen attacker is due to complete his medical in the coming hours ahead of an announcement of his signing.

The expectation is that the formalities can be completed in the next 24 hours.

Unless there is a major shock elsewhere, this deal looks set to be the biggest - from a financial sense - of the summer.

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Harvey Elliott has a "huge opportunity" to showcase his abilities when England play Spain in the European Under-21 Championships quarter-final on Saturday.

Elliott has started in all three of England's group stage matches so far, scoring in one and winning man of the match in another. Up next is England's quarter final match against Spain.

His role comes at a time where his Liverpool future is in doubt given his position as a squad player under Arne Slot.

"He is the one who has got the most to gain from this tournament," the Daily Mail's Nathan Salt told BBC Radio Merseyside. "Either him, Jarrell Quansah or James McAtee - they are all being tracked by European sides and you have all of these scouts here.

"Elliott in particular - before the tournament he told me 'I don't want to waste any more years of my career'. That was quite difficult for him to say because he is a massive Liverpool fan and he knows that his future at Liverpool is nearing the final chapter.

"Saturday's match against Spain [under-21] is a huge opportunity for him to show his quality."

Liverpool are yet to receive any bids for Uruguay striker Darwin Nunez, 25, who is the latest Premier League player to be linked with a move to Serie A champions Napoli. (Liverpool Echo), external

Bayer Leverkusen and Germany forward Florian Wirtz, 22, is expected to complete his club record transfer to Liverpool on Friday. (ESPN), external

Napoli and AC Milan are interested in Liverpool and Italy forward Federico Chiesa, 27. (Kiss Kiss Napoli - in Italian), external

Liverpool and England defender Joe Gomez, 28, is interesting Crystal Palace, Leeds United and West Ham and the club are open to letting him go. (TBR Football), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Sami Mokbel
Senior football correspondent

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Bayer Leverkusen are set to accelerate their interest in Liverpool defender Jarell Quansah.

Leverkusen and Liverpool have been locked in talks over the Premier League club's £116m move for Florian Wirtz, which could be completed by the start of next week with the Germany international's medical imminent.

The clubs have continued contact regarding Quansah, though Liverpool are not actively trying to sell the centre-back.

Liverpool have an interest in Crystal Palace skipper Marc Guehi, who could be viewed as a replacement for Quansah.

BBC Sport understands that the Anfield club's level of interest in England international Guehi this summer is linked to Palace's asking price for the defender.

Last year, Palace rejected four offers from Newcastle with the final one reaching £65m. However, Guehi has just 12 months left on his deal meaning he can leave for nothing next summer.

If a deal for Guehi can not be reached during this transfer window, Liverpool would be interested in landing the centre-back on a free next summer.

In addition to Quansah's possible move to Germany, there is also some uncertainty over fellow centre-back Ibrahima Konate's future.

France defender Konate has 12 months left on his contract at Anfield and is yet to agree an extension, while Joe Gomez's future is also unclear this summer.

Slobodan Maricic
BBC Serbia journalist

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Both the past and future of Liverpool's new defender Milos Kerkez have been causing quite a stir in Serbia recently. And, as with all good stories, the two are closely intertwined.

The 21-year-old plays for Hungary, but he was born in Vrbas, a town in Serbia's northern autonomous province of Vojvodina, where his football journey began.

He started out at OFK Vrbas, before moving to nearby Kula to play for Hajduk 1912.

But his football education quickly took him abroad. In Austria, he joined Rapid Vienna, then moved on to Hungary, featuring for two clubs - the tongue-twisting Hodmezovasarhely and Gyor, where he began his senior career.

Then, at the start of 2021, while still a teenager, he received an unexpected phone call from Italy that any young player would dream of.

On the line was none other than Paolo Maldini, AC Milan legend and one of the greatest defenders ever, who was keen to persuade him to join the Rossoneri.

"You can't say no when Maldini calls," Kerkez said in a later interview.

However, with chances limited at Milan, he moved to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in 2022.

Given that he was born in Serbia, speculation around his future – particularly rumours linking him with a move from Bournemouth to Liverpool – caught Serbian media attention for weeks, but also raised one persistent question from the past: "Why isn't Kerkez playing for Serbia?"

The simple answer is that his paternal grandmother was Hungarian - a sizeable community in Vojvodina - and, according to Kerkez, she wanted him to represent Hungary.

He did just that, turning out for Hungary at under-17 and under-21 levels, breaking into the senior side in 2022, and earning a spot in their Euro 2024 squad.

But the issue resurfaced after recent comments by his father Sebastian in a podcast, claiming that the Serbian FA "didn't seem too serious" about Milos.

The Serbian FA quickly hit back, denying the lack of interest and saying they "did everything possible" to secure Milos for Serbia.

They even went on the counter-attack.

"Sebastian Kerkez openly told me," one Serbian FA official stated, "that Milos will join Hungary only because that is the easiest way for him and his wife to get Hungarian passports."

Hungary is in the EU and Serbia isn't.

And Milos Kerkez is in Liverpool.

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BBC Radio Merseyside spoke to Liverpool.com's Matt Addison about the Reds' Premier League fixtures after they were announced on Wednesday.

"I think Bournemouth is a good game to start with," Addison said, "I think it's always an advantage to start at home first and I think it's probably a good thing that Liverpool aren't playing one of the promoted teams.

"There's still going to be a lot of atmosphere for Liverpool and a lot of expectation with that but to be at home and to be against a team like Bournemouth, I suspect it might be an advantage to play them early in the season rather than a few weeks in.

"I think you can probably look at any run of fixtures in the Premier League and think there's one or two tricky ones in there or one or two that look tricky to Liverpool. But to have Bournemouth, Newcastle and Arsenal before that first international break is as tough as it would have got.

"A trip to Newcastle is never easy and Liverpool have always managed to make it a bit of a mad game one way or another in the past couple of seasons up at St James Park.

"So it's a tough run of fixtures but the flipside of that is that if they can get one or two wins in the early spell, that will put them in a really promising position."

Listen to the full chat on BBC Sounds

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

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Liverpool are advancing talks to sign defender Milos Kerkez for a fee of around £40m-£45m.

Sources with knowledge of the situation say that the talks have yet to complete but there is expectation from all parties that the Hungary left-back will soon move to Anfield on a long-term deal.

Bournemouth have already signed his replacement Adrien Truffert from Rennes.

Meanwhile, Kerkez's father was quoted as saying "personal terms have been agreed, we just need to sort out some details but that is basically a done deal" to Hungarian outlet Blic, external.

Kerkez started all 38 Premier League matches, contributing two goals and six assists for Bournemouth as they recorded their a club-record 56 points in the Premier League, finishing ninth in the process.

Kerkez has made 23 appearances for Hungary and previously played for Gyor and AZ Alkmaar while also having a spell at AC Milan without making a senior appearance.

The reigning Premier League champions have also agreed a £116m deal to sign Germany international Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.

Liverpool are prepared to smash the British transfer record to sign Newcastle and Sweden striker Alexander Isak, 25, this summer. (GiveMeSport), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

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Goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros has signed a new contract with Liverpool and joined Ajax on loan for the 2025-26 season.

The 23 year-old, who made his Reds debut in October, is reuniting with former Liverpool assistant coach John Heitinga who is now the first-team coach at the Amsterdam club.

Jaros came through the Liverpool academy after arriving from Slavia Prague in 2017.

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Following the release of the 2025-26 Premier League fixtures, we asked for your thoughts on Liverpool's schedule.

Here are some of your comments:

Mike: If the Reds get their transfer targets and they gel quickly with the rest of the team, then I think we will be league leaders after 10 games.

Fraser: The start is really difficult and the run-in with Everton and Manchester United thrown in there. Other than that, it's not too bad and evens out as the season goes on. The run from December and January is decent as well, a little kinder than previous years. Of course, they're all difficult fixtures but we handled them well last year. Once we get past the first 10 games it should be OK from there. Bring it on.

Shakeel: If we manage to resolve Ibrahima Konate's contract, bed in the new players and get a striker in, then we will look even stronger than last season. I would say top of the table after 10 games is a realistic goal.

Mark: Very tough opening month and the final set of games don't look great either to be honest. If we're going to retain the title this year, then it will be fully deserved.

Ken: An incredibly tough run of fixtures at the start and end of the season. Will have to win the title by the end of April again to avoid a potentially nervy finish!

Opta has ranked the difficulty of each top-flight team's first five Premier League fixtures of the 2025-26 season.

According to Opta's model, Manchester United have the hardest start, followed by their opening-weekend opponents Arsenal and then Bournemouth.

Aston Villa's first five games have been ranked the easiest, alongside Crystal Palace.

Take a look below to see where your side places...

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Fans have been warned by the Premier League that fixtures could be moved at "relatively short notice" next season because of the number of teams playing in Europe.

A record nine top-flight clubs have qualified for continental competition in the 2025-26 campaign.

The Premier League said there is an "increased likelihood" that games will be re-scheduled if English teams reach the latter stages and it suggested fans take this into consideration when planning their attendance at games.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle and Tottenham will be playing in the Champions League next season.

Aston Villa and Crystal Palace have qualified for the Europa League, while Nottingham Forest will be playing in the Conference League.

"While the Premier League celebrates this success, it will come with an impact on the scheduling of league matches," a statement from the Premier League said.

"There is an increased likelihood of Premier League fixtures moving at relatively short notice, after our fixture announcements, should our clubs progress to the knockout rounds of these competitions."

Andrew Bassett
BBC Sport data analyst

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We have seen a lot of traffic to our fixtures pages already today.

So far, Leeds United are the fourth most visited club fixtures page on BBC Sport.

Only Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal are ahead of the Whites.

Newly promoted Sunderland also catch the eye inside the top 10 - and in case you were wondering, they are behind Newcastle United.

Aside from the first game of the season against Bournemouth and the final fixture against Brentford, all dates are subject to change as a result of broadcast and other requirements.

See Liverpool's full fixture list here

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Liverpool will be looking to maintain their strong recent derby record when they welcome to Everton to Anfield on the weekend of 20-21 September.

Arne Slot's defending champions are due to make their first trip to the Hill Dickinson Stadium towards the end of the campaign, on the weekend of 18-19 April - looking to avenge the dramatic late draw in February's last Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.

In terms of the title race, the Reds face an early test with 2024-25 runners-up Arsenal visiting Anfield on the weekend of 30-31 August, with a trip to Manchester City at the start of November.

The Reds will face a midweek trip to the Emirates in early January, and Pep Guardiola's side come to Merseyside on the weekend of 7-8 February.

Old rivals Manchester United are due to come to Anfield on the weekend of 18-19 October, with Liverpool looking to pick up another Old Trafford victory on the weekend of 2-3 May in the return fixture late in the season.

And what about the schedule over Christmas and New Year? Well, Liverpool will face Tottenham, Wolves and Leeds over the festive period, before travelling to Fulham for their first game of 2026.

Finally, the Reds will close their campaign against Brentford at home on Sunday, 24 May 2026 - when all 10 matches will kick off at 16:00 BST.

Looking at the fixture list, where do you think Slot's side will be after 10 games? Have your say here

Liverpool will host Bournemouth in their opening game of the 2025-26 Premier League season.

The match will take place on Friday, 15 August at 20:00 BST, with the champions' first away fixture against Newcastle United on the weekend of 23-24 August.

See Liverpool's Premier League fixtures in full here

Where do you think the Reds will be after 10 games and what do you make of how the fixtures have fallen? Tell us here

Bayern Munich will target Liverpool forward Cody Gakpo if they miss out on Athletic Bilbao's Nico Williams. (Sky Germany), external

Want more transfer news? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport