Milos Kerkez is under no illusions about the work ahead. The Liverpool defender has recovered from a turbulent start to life at Anfield to quietly establish himself as one of the club’s most improved performers and yet, with the venerated Andy Robertson set to depart this summer, he knows the onus is now on him to begin crafting his own legacy.
“He really is a legend,” Kerkez tells ESPN when asked about Robertson. “The best [left back in Premier League history]. I said it, and I believe that because of what a player he is, how much energy he has, how much running and assisting. It’s really unbelievable.”
Indeed, the exceptional nature of Robertson’s Liverpool career has only exacerbated the difficulty of Kerkez’s assignment since joining the club in a £40 million transfer from Bournemouth last summer. Nearly a year into his time on Merseyside, the 22-year-old is still younger than Robertson was when he arrived from relegated Hull City in the summer of 2017.
A 31-cap Hungary international, Kerkez was persuaded by none other than Paolo Maldini to sign for AC Milan as a 17-year-old in 2021 and has already seen his CV furnished with a place in the 2024-25 PFA Team of the Year, following a string of outstanding performances for Bournemouth last term. And yet, with Robertson’s enduring popularity evidenced by the adulation that greeted his superb goal against Crystal Palace last weekend, Kerkez knows he still has work to do to convince Liverpool fans he is worthy of becoming the Scot’s long-term successor.
“Robbo’s a big player who did a lot of stuff for the club,” Kerkez tells ESPN. “At the end of the day, we had to compete this season for playing minutes but there’s no bad blood. I came in, and he took me under his wing and helped me a lot.
“He gave me advice along the way. When you see these players, you want to learn from them and when it’s time to succeed them, you have to be there. I know this is a big thing. He gave a lot to the club. I know I have big shoes to fill in the future, that’s for sure. I’m going to give my best.”
It is the kind of resolute mindset that has become synonymous with Kerkez over the course of this season, which has been more arduous than most for Liverpool. The defender offered a first glimpse of his tenacious character when he attempted an unorthodox tackle with his head during a preseason friendly with Preston North End last July — a snapshot that set the tone for a player whose unswerving commitment to the cause has already endeared him to a fanbase that always demands maximum effort.
“I always want people to remember I gave 110% whenever I played,” he says. “I am starting to understand what it means to play for this club, to wear the responsibility, to wear the shirt and the badge. I’m enjoying it a lot.”
Certainly, Kerkez has grown into his role as Liverpool’s first-choice left back in recent months. The pedigree of his predecessor always meant expectations were likely to be high, but some shaky performances in the early stages of the season prompted plenty of external criticism, with Manchester United legend Gary Neville describing him as looking “like a youth team player” after Liverpool’s defeat to Chelsea in October.
“To be honest, I don’t look at that too much,” Kerkez says when quizzed about the impact of that early scrutiny. “The media is a big thing, especially in England. People talk, and everyone has their opinions, but I’m always focused on the pitch. I know what I can do, what kind of player I am, and why I am here at Liverpool.
“I know I’m going to grow from that. It’s going to give me more experience to learn and push harder. That’s what I did. I just stayed silent and everyone at the club helped me a lot. I just want to improve and keep getting better. For me, it has been a growing season, learning lots of new things and adapting.
“The first two or three months were a bit tough in terms of playing style, playing lots of games. My legs needed to adapt also, to be honest. When you take some time and adapt, it gets better and better. I’m happy now that I’ve found my place more and I can play consistently and give consistent performances.”
Kerkez is not the only one of Liverpool’s summer recruits who needed time to find his feet at Anfield. Fellow new arrivals Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong are still yet to reach the heights scaled at previous club Bayer Leverkusen, while injuries have so far prevented the £125 million Alexander Isak from bolstering his reputation as one of Europe’s most potent strikers.
The left back also shares a close friendship with Mohamed Salah, who is set to bring the curtain down on his glittering Liverpool career this summer. The Egypt international can regularly be found socialising with Kerkez and countryman Dominik Szoboszlai at the Reds’ AXA Training Centre in Kirkby, with the trio enjoying trips to London and downtime together at Salah’s home in Cheshire.
“When Mo came to Liverpool, I was living in Austria [while in the academy at Rapid Vienna],” Kerkez says. “I was really young and it was around that time I started to watch Liverpool a lot. Now I’m here. He always says he connects well with the Balkan guys.
“We are close, me, him and Dom. He accepted me really well — like everyone did, but he took me more under his wing. He helped me out in many ways, also just hanging out and doing stuff together. I’m very thankful for that. It’s going to be one month more and for sure I’m going to miss him a lot.
“He has so much experience, but what really puts Salah away from everyone else is how professional he is. He’s unbelievable. I don’t think I’ve seen that in any other player, doing all the gym stuff, eating healthy, how focused he is to make sure he is doing everything to perform well on the pitch. That is really unbelievable. It’s what I have tried to learn from him this year.”
In February, Kerkez sent the internet into a frenzy when he shared a photo of Salah’s personal trophy cabinet on social media. Complete with a replica of the Champions League trophy won by Liverpool in 2019 and the PFA Player of the Year Award — Salah has won it a record three times — the haul of silverware is a testament to a player who will deservedly be the subject of unprecedented fanfare in the coming weeks.
“I asked Mo if he’d ever posted the picture on social media so everyone could see it,” Kerkez recalls with a smile. “He told me no so I said: ‘I’m going to take a picture of this and post it later’. We went to London together and I decided to post it while we were there. It’s pretty nice, huh?
“It’s more tough [for me] to have the individual trophies that he has because I’m a full back. He has scored a lot of goals. But when you see all the team trophies that he’s won, of course you look at that as a young player and just think: ‘Wow’. You just want to train harder, play harder, win things with the team.”
With Liverpool now mathematically unable to win the Premier League title and out of both FA Cup and Champions League, Kerkez will have to wait to add a first Anfield trophy to his own silverware collection. But, with Slot’s side on course for a top five finish — and a place in next season’s Champions League — the defender is confident next term will bring more success.
“I think the future is bright,” Kerkez says. “We have really good quality in the team. Even now, I think we connect better but next year is going to be a better season. We know we have to have a better season.
“There are many hungry players in the team. Of course we’re going to miss that leadership from the older guys because they’re experienced and have been through everything. But we have to learn, we have to move on and next year we have to make it a better season.”
