Milos Kerkez on Liverpool pressure, 'boom boom boom' training and what he wants next

Kerkez

Something has caught the eye of Milos Kerkez. The summer Liverpool signing is being chaperoned into a side room at the club's AXA Training Centre at Kirkby when, with a gaggle of journalists in tow, he spots a quote on the wall

It's attributed to former Reds skipper Jordan Henderson in which he declares there is "no better place to play football than Liverpool".

"It's one of the best clubs in the world, if not the best in my opinion," says Kerkez on being asked about the statement.

"It's a special place – when I arrived, you can clearly see from everything, with players that you come to play with, pitches and people, how professional everything is. I would agree."

Certainly, the Hungary international has been saying all the right things since his arrival from Bournemouth for £40million earlier this summer. His first training session alongside his team-mates, however, was an eye-opener.

"I was never nervous!" insists Kerkez. "I was really happy and I couldn't wait to get started. But yeah, just the intensity, of course, the quality is higher and there are not many mistakes.

"The noise of the passes, when you hear the noise of the pass, boom, boom, boom, it's different. It's just the highest level of football and I'm really proud and happy that I'm here. The mentality of the club and everything is... I think I'm fitting in perfectly, so I think this is the best place to be."

The ultimate final destination for Kerkez, of course, is the left-back role that has been the home of Andy Robertson for almost eight years, with competition from Kostas Tsimikas for the last five.

Sunday's Community Shield against Crystal Palace at Wembley will be the final chance for the 21-year-old to impress sufficiently to earn a starting role against former club Bournemouth when the Premier League season begins at Anfield on Friday.

And Kerkez is confidently up for the battle. "It's Liverpool, it's always your fight for position," he says. "It's anywhere now, you can see it clearly, this season especially. You have to train good – every training session and every game.

"For me, I grew up different. So I accept everything. It's not a problem for me. I always want to win, so for me it doesn't matter.

“It's normal, it's Liverpool – you have to win. But I don't feel pressure anywhere, you know. There's no pressure in that, so it's just go out and do your job. That's it."

Kerkez's upbringing suggests there will be no issues handling the unique demands that come with playing for Liverpool.

"I grew up different than a bit of European kids," he says. "I'm from Serbia, so everything is different with us.

“About pressure and if you feel on the pitch – it's not pressure. You play football and you can have a bad game, but you still get paid.

"Pressure is when you don't have a meal the next morning, like some families.

“That's what's called pressure. This what we do is no pressure. It's just go out and do the job you have to do. It's Liverpool, you have to always be on and that's it."

Family is important to Kerkez. He has featured on a podcast with his father while older brothers Rade and Marko have had a significant influence on his career - including one very pointed Liverpool decision.

"I watched a lot of football with my brothers growing up," he says. "I used to watch (Steven) Gerrard, I used to watch (John) Arne Riise, Robbo and Ronaldo when he played.

"I always let my brothers choose the numbers where I go to different teams.

“They were saying I knew Arne Riise at six, I told them that, they saw that also, so they said six is a good number to continue.

"We're all close. It's normal, they were always with me since day one. I'm the youngest in the family, so they always say the youngest make it the furthest! They pushed me a lot and I'm always thankful to my brothers and family."

Despite his young age, Kerkez's route to Anfield has been circuitous.

“Having started in his Serbian homeland and then spent five years with Rapid Vienna in Austria, he had two brief spells with two clubs in Hungary, the latter of whom was Gyor where he made his senior debut.

He was then snapped up as a 17-year-old to play for AC Milan in February 2021 but didn't make a senior appearance before joining AZ Alkmaar less than 12 months later and then heading to Bournemouth in the summer of 2023.

Richard Hughes, the current Liverpool sporting director having arrived from the Cherries last year, was influential in taking Kerkez to the South Coast.

"He was always a big part of the fact that I joined the Premier League," he says. "Richard obviously likes my character and mentality and the player that I am.

“He wanted to bring me (to Liverpool), together with the coach (Arne Slot). I had conversations with gaffer.

“I just wanted to join when I heard that Liverpool wanted me. It was not a different decision."

There was also advice from fellow Hungary international Dominik Szoboszlai, who has become a key part of the Liverpool squad since arriving from RB Leipzig in 2023.

"I talked to him and he told me everything, how it is," says Kerkez. "When I came, I saw that it's like that.

"It's really high level in terms of everything – in nutrition, from people helping you to improve even more physically. Also you can only get a lot better as a player when you come here, so it's the highest level of football."

Indeed, for Kerkez, there is no better place right now.