Milos Kerkez, a highly regarded left-back, has been acquired by Bournemouth from Dutch team AZ Alkmaar.
The 19-year-old has signed a long-term contract with the Cherries for a rumoured cost of about £15.5 million.
In his first season at AZ Alkmaar, Kerkez made 52 appearances, contributed to seven assists and five goals in all competitions.
Neill Blake, the CEO of AFC Bournemouth, stated: “We are excited to announce the signing of Milos, a gifted young player with a lot of promise.
He was being pursued by a number of European clubs, but after learning about our goals and plans for the future, he was eager to join us.
We are excited to work with Milos, an athletic and attacking full-back who will be a great addition to our dynamic group.
Following Romain Faivre from Lyon and Justin Kluivert from AS Roma as the club’s summer signings, Kerkez joins them.
Alphonso Davies of Bayern Munich and Theo Hernandez of AC Milan, both of whom Kerkez studied under while playing for the Italian club, have served as models for the player, who won’t turn 20 until November.
In fact, Kerkez was called to Milan as a 17-year-old by Paolo Maldini, who is widely regarded as the finest left-back to ever play the position.
Although he trained with the first team and played for their reserves, Kerkez became impatient and requested to leave for Alkmaar, even though Milan wanted him to be patient and go out on loan.
He attracted the interest of Lazio and Benfica there, but has since decided on Bournemouth.
In September 2022, when he was 18 years old, he made his Nations League debut for Hungary in a 1-0 victory over Germany. Since then, he has started their last three Euro qualifiers against Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Lithuania.
