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Image Credits: Liverpool FC

Liverpool’s post-title win spending spree continued as they confirmed the signing of Milos Kerkez.

After winning the Premier League title in Arne Slot’s first season, signing Florian Wirtz for a hefty price, Kerkez now for £40m, Jeremie Frimpong for £30 Million in addition to securing the bumper contracts of Virgil Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, the Reds are conducting extraordinary business off the pitch.

They want to be taken seriously and the manner in which they are doing it is a clear message to the rest of the league.

The success is here to stay or at the very least they will do their upmost best to build on Slot’s maiden title.

Kerkez was a coveted signing and emerged as one of Bournemouth’s best players under Andoni Iraola

Despite Bournemouth suffering an injury crisis towards the end of the season, Kerkez played every single league game and was a thorn in the side of opponents throughout.

His stats paint a picture of why Liverpool signed him:

Milos Kerkez Notable Statistics:

Assists from Open Play: (5) 3rd Most in the League

Successful open-play crosses: (35) 2nd Most in the League

Progressive Carries of 10 Yards or more: (144) 3rd

(Stats Taken from The Times)

He is an explosive full-back that suited a club that thrived in the Premier League’s chaos.

Direct and fast with a penchant for hounding teams in a high press.

The difference now will be Kerkez adapting to a style that is more patient.

The Serbian will see more of the ball and will needing to know the right times to be explosive.

But taking a look at what Kerkez does on the pitch, you can see how he may fit into this Liverpool side.

Runs from Full-back

Where Liverpool really caught sides out last season was maximising Mohamed Salah.

But how they did this isn’t discussed that much and involved almost every other attacker in the side.

Whether it was midfield runners in Dominik Szoboszlai or Ryan Gravenberch or full-backs like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, they would make use of the space in behind as the strikers dropped deeper.

As highlighted in a previous piece from the game vs West Ham when Liverpool dismantled the Hammers.

The defenders have to follow the attacker wide above wherever he goes?

When this happened, you can see the run Alexander-Arnold is making in the half-space in behind.

Attract the defender using a striker (Salah), manipulate the space in behind using another player (Alexander-Arnold)

Now, why is this relevant to this Kerkez piece?

Well, as a piece on the Premier League website highlighted, his stats showed only two players made more overlapping runs (66) than the Serbian international and he made the most underlapping runs (52) in the league.

When Liverpool have the ball he can be the runner in behind in the half-space (underlapping) or wide (overlapping).

Considering how highly he ranked for progressive carries too, this can be a problem for defences.

He could also receive the ball in the half-space, turn and go as other players run off him, doing the reverse.

But Slot will likely prefer him as the player who is as close to the penalty area as possible to cut the ball back in from the byline and cross for Liverpool’s forwards.

Kerkez was one the best players in the league last season and £40m looks a steal.

As a new full-back pairing in Frimpong and Kerkez arrives on Merseyside, it’s hard to not get excited at the possibilities

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