Milos Kerkez Interview: Intense Iraola, Liverpool Links – Powered By His Mum’s Cooking

Milos Kerkez has 1 face, which is partially hidden wrong a Nike hoodie correct now.

Bournemouth’s 21-year-old rising-star left-back is stepping on nan southbound guidelines of their Vitality Stadium home. A mates of minutes earlier, Tiago Pinto, nan club’s head of shot operations, passed nan aforesaid way. 

It is Pinto, on pinch Simon Francis, Bournemouth’s first-team method director, who will much than apt beryllium tasked pinch negotiating nan champion imaginable transportation interest for nan Serbia-born Hungary world this summer.

Bournemouth signed Kerkez from Dutch broadside AZ for astir £15.5million ($20m astatine nan existent speech rate) successful July 2023. Now, aft what’s truthful acold been a stellar 2nd play successful English football, he is 1 of Europe’s astir sought-after left-backs, pinch clubs specified arsenic Premier League champions-elect Liverpool among his keen admirers.

“No 2 faces,” Kerkez tells The Athletic from an agency wrong nan 11,307-capacity stadium. “How I americium connected nan transportation is really I americium extracurricular of it. Everywhere I americium nan same. I americium not pretending to beryllium something. You ever retrieve wherever you’ve been, wherever you are now and you don’t change, you conscionable spell pinch it and enactment humble. That is what my dada (Sebastijan) says.”

Last season, Kerkez, a accelerated and feisty full-back, made a sanction for himself successful a Bournemouth squad that achieved nan club’s champion top-flight points tally (48) during Andoni Iraola’s first play arsenic their caput coach. Their 2024-25 has been moreover much awesome nether nan Spaniard, who, for illustration Kerkez, is attracting plentifulness of liking from elsewhere. With 9 convention games to go, Bournemouth are 5 points distant from beating that grounds points haul from a twelvemonth agone and, successful doing so, are dreaming of their first foray into European football, sitting conscionable 3 points down fifth-placed Manchester City.

A play successful which he’s scored doubly and assisted 5 times successful 32 appearances has seen Kerkez find different level. During 2023-24, he was adjusting to nan league, but now nan convention is adjusting to him.

“Last play helped maine to acquisition nan convention and really it is, nan velocity and physicality of it,” says Kerkez, who was calved successful November 2003, erstwhile Bournemouth were playing nan likes of Tranmere Rovers and Colchester United successful English football’s 3rd tier. “The head has spot successful you and gives you clip to accommodate because he knows you person nan value and he knows it is conscionable a matter of clip until you popular retired and commencement to do your worldly more.”

Kerkez has started each 1 of Bournemouth’s 29 convention games this season, which person included wins against City (who they will look again astatine location successful an FA Cup quarter-final connected Sunday), Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

But he will miss City’s visit, wherever a semi-final astatine Wembley adjacent period will beryllium astatine stake, aft he was shown a yellowish paper during nan triumph against Wolverhampton Wanderers successful nan erstwhile round. He was booked, unfairly according to Iraola, aft Wolves guardant Matheus Cunha deed retired astatine and headbutted him successful other clip and was himself sent off.

“I for illustration to beryllium fierce but successful a sporting measurement — successful a shot way, I for illustration to compete a lot,” Kerkez says. “As a full-back, you person to do some (defend and attack), but first of each is your protect game. If you’re not a bully defender, you’re not going to play aliases compete for trophies. 

“Last play I had to activity connected my protect awareness, to not move off. I now enactment focused for nan full crippled and I judge I’m doing some beautiful good this season. If you want to beryllium a full-back pinch Andoni Iraola, you person to beryllium for illustration this.”

When The Athletic sat down pinch Kerkez, it was 2 days aft his lung-busting capacity successful nan 2-2 distant tie against Spurs connected March 9. Kerkez said he was still emotion nan effects of his exertions, which included a breathtaking 43.6 metre (47.6 yard) sprint from his ain half to assistance Marcus Tavernier for nan game’s opening goal.

By midweek, he said, he’d beryllium recharged afloat to nan levels which, during childhood, meant he hardly sat still. He would standard gangly trees and, arsenic a instrumentality of parkour, enjoyed daring climbs on rooftops successful his hometown of Vrbas, Serbia.

In that Tottenham match, Kerkez looked for illustration an NFL cornerback arsenic he tracked nan tally of ‘wide receiver’ Brennan Johnson and perfectly timed his interception of ‘quarterback’ Pedro Porro’s walk earlier making nan lightning-quick bolt forward, past slowing, looking up and crossing to find Tavernier astatine nan backmost post.

“That is what wingers struggle with,” Kerkez says. “I don’t time off them abstraction to power nan shot extracurricular of me. I enactment adjacent to them and astatine nan aforesaid clip I tin travel their run. If they want to tally successful beforehand of maine (they can) because I cognize I person nan speed.

“I conscionable waited for that and I tin move quick, that’s my beardown powerfulness — being explosive and defending. After that, it was conscionable astir staying calm for nan first fewer metres and past I looked for Tav. I saw he was going to make nan run, truthful I put it location and it went perfectly.

“I look for nan subordinate (rather than a zone) because successful my caput I cognize precisely wherever nan goalkeeper will be. You tin spot (on that goal) I conscionable looked up astatine nan player, I didn’t look astatine nan container aliases nan goalkeeper.”

Instead of moving towards Tavernier to celebrate, Kerkez turned and ran into nan arms of Iraola, whose pre-match readying centred connected ways to expose Tottenham’s precocious protect line. “He helped maine earlier nan crippled to analyse this to get nan assist,” Kerkez says. “He is helping everyone to amended arsenic a subordinate and arsenic a person. I’m really thankful he has trusted me.”

It was 1 of 2 viral moments involving Kerkez from that game, on pinch a perfectly timed descent situation connected Johnson wrong nan Bournemouth box. “People deliberation I americium going to springiness a punishment but I cognize erstwhile I tin make a tackle and return nan shot distant clearly. I really enjoyed that tackle,” he smirks.

Naturally, each this directed a batch of postulation to Kerkez’s societal media accounts.

His Instagram, successful particular, was filled pinch messages from hundreds of Liverpool fans asking him to subordinate nan nine arsenic they look for 31-year-old Andy Robertson’s semipermanent successor.

“It’s not for illustration I don’t spot it (the comments),” he says. “When group opportunity they don’t spot worldly if personification says thing astir you, I deliberation it’s a lie. It’s only if it hits you aliases not. If personification says thing bad, I do my job, and if personification says thing good, I conscionable do my job. That’s it.”

Kerkez’s younker profession took him from Serbia to Austria’s Rapid Vienna and Hungarian clubs Hodmezovasarhelyi and Gyor, earlier a video telephone pinch a legendary left-back led to a move to Italian giants Milan successful February 2021.

Paolo Maldini, who won 5 European Cup/Champions League finals and 7 Serie A titles arsenic a Milan player, arsenic good arsenic playing 126 times for Italy, was their method head astatine nan clip and signed Kerkez. Despite training pinch nan first team, Kerkez ne'er made a elder quality for nan San Siro nine and, aft being confined to younker football, he near for AZ conscionable 12 months aft joining.

Milos Kerkez: « Maldini est le meilleur défenseur cardinal de tous les temps, Theo Hernandez est lui fantabulous à boy poste. » pic.twitter.com/Ze1BoJMgHB

— AC Milan – FR (@AC_MilanFR) February 2, 2021

Does he spot his adjacent measurement arsenic being a return to 1 of Europe’s elite clubs?

“Yeah,” Kerkez says. “As a kid, you dream to play astatine nan highest level, triumph nan trophies, beryllium connected nan champion teams. 

“These are nan things that my supplier is on. My dada is on. It is not thing that they inhabit maine pinch because nan play is still going, truthful there’s nary constituent to talk astir anything. There’s games left, nan FA Cup is important for america — these are large things. And then, for illustration I say, erstwhile personification comes (in for you) you ne'er cognize what’s going to hap aliases wherever you’re going to extremity up. In nan summer, we will spot what happens.”

The opinions of parents Sebastijan and Tiijana, who unrecorded pinch him successful adjacent Poole, and his brothers Rade and Marko — nan second besides plays top-level shot arsenic a left-back, for Greek broadside Aris Thessaloniki connected indebtedness from Partizan Belgrade — are what matters astir to him.

“I play for them. I conscionable want to person made them proud,” Kerkez says. “All nan different sound is not important for me, if it’s bully aliases bad. My family is why I’m present coming and why I proceed to grow.” 

He intends that literally. “My mum cooks nan champion nutrient for me, it is what keeps maine patient to play. She makes each sorts of juices, I person a batch of them successful nan fridge and I don’t moreover cognize what they are,” he laughs.

His wellness and fittingness authorities seems to beryllium moving retired good for Kerkez, whose clip distant from shot is spent mostly pinch his family and friends successful Poole aliases backmost successful Vrbas.

His manner centres connected being outdoors arsenic overmuch arsenic possible. He has fished since nan property of eight, which is astir nan aforesaid clip he switched his attraction from swimming to football. Does thing astir nan h2o bring him soul peace? “I’m not moreover calm erstwhile I fish,” he laughs again. “But I for illustration to beryllium location nan full time and conscionable fish.”

Kerkez has had a location built for him successful Serbia and nan finishing touches will see a padel tribunal truthful he tin compete pinch his brothers and friends.

“I unrecorded simply,” says a subordinate who vanished 14th successful nan voting for nan 2023 Golden Boy award, recognising nan champion young footballer successful Europe complete nan erstwhile year, a spot down Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott and 1 up of now Manchester United striker Rasmus Hojlund. “I would alternatively spell location for my picnic and beryllium pinch family aliases friends successful my hometown than recreation to Ibiza, for example.

“I tin do everything astatine location successful Serbia, I don’t request to spell anyplace else. I built my location there. I americium going to person each nan nosy I request successful my hometown, truthful I don’t request to spell anyplace else.”

Kerkez’s emotion for Serbia is clear, which whitethorn confuse immoderate arsenic he represents Hungary, who he qualifies to play for done his paternal grandmother.

Staying loyal paid disconnected for some parties erstwhile Kerkez made history by becoming nan youngest subordinate (20 years and 221 days) to correspond Hungary astatine nan European Championship successful 60 years erstwhile they faced Switzerland successful nan group shape of past summer’s tourney successful Germany.

“They gave maine a chance, and I thought if I get called up past I will play for them,” says Kerkez, who was playing his nine shot pinch Gyor successful Hungary astatine nan clip of his first under-17s call-up and has since won 23 elder caps.

His loyalty, pinch those 9 convention games and 2 imaginable trips to Wembley successful nan FA Cup this play remaining, is pinch Bournemouth for now — but that will beryllium tested this summer.

(Top photo: Caoimhe O’Neill/The Athletic)