Milos Kerkez (Serbian Cyrillic: Милош Керкез, romanized: Miloš Kerkez; born 7 November 2003) is a professional footballer who plays as a left-back or left wing-back for Premier League club AFC Bournemouth. Born in Serbia, he plays for the Hungary national team.
.png) Kerkez with Bournemouth in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Milos Kerkez[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 7 November 2003 | ||
| Place of birth | Vrbas, Serbia and Montenegro[2] | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Left-back, left wing-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | AFC Bournemouth | ||
| Number | 3 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2014 | OFK Vrbas | ||
| 2014–2019 | Rapid Wien | ||
| 2019 | Hódmezővásárhely | ||
| 2019–2020 | Győr | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2020–2021 | Győr | 16 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | AC Milan | 0 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | Jong AZ | 9 | (0) |
| 2022–2023 | AZ | 33 | (3) |
| 2023– | AFC Bournemouth | 28 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2020 | Hungary U17 | 2 | (0) |
| 2021– | Hungary U21 | 8 | (0) |
| 2022– | Hungary | 19 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 June 2024 | |||
Club career
Kerkez joined Austrian side Rapid Wien in 2014, and played there until 2019.[3]
Győr
In 2020, he was signed by Nemzeti Bajnokság II club Győri ETO FC. In an interview with scoutedftbl.com, Kerkez said that during his period at Győr he decided to become a Hungarian international because he got a lot of help and support from his coaches and teammates in Győr.[4]
AC Milan
On 2 February 2021, he was signed by Serie A giant Milan.[5] Paolo Maldini phoned him a couple of days before the end of the transfer season in other to persuade him to join Milan. Kerkez said in an interview with Nemzeti Sport that "You cannot say no when Maldini calls you. As a result, he decided to leave Győr and join Milan. On 17 July 2021, Kerkez played his first match with the senior team in a training match against Pro Sesto 1913.[6] However, he was not given enough opportunity; therefore, he decided to leave AC Milan in 2022.[7]
AZ
On 29 January 2022, he was signed by Eredivisie club AZ Alkmaar.[8] On 19 May 2022, he played his first match for AZ against SC Heerenveen at the Abe Lenstra Stadion, Heerenveen, the Netherlands. The match ended with a 3-2 win for Heerenveen and Kerkez was substituted in the 77th minute.[9][10] On 14 August 2022, he scored his first goal in the Eredivisie against Sparta Rotterdam at the Sparta Stadion Het Kasteel, Rotterdam in the 2022–23 Eredivisie season. The match was won by AZ 3–2 and Kerkez scored the winning goal in the 77th minute.[11][12] According to Nemzeti Sport, S.L. Benfica showed interest in purchasing him, however, the Portuguese club did not want to pay 20 million euros for him.[13]
AFC Bournemouth
On 20 July 2023, Kerkez was signed by Premier League club AFC Bournemouth for an undisclosed fee.[14][15][16] On 12 August, he made his debut against West Ham United in a 1–1 home draw on the first matchday of the 2023–24 Premier League.[17][18]
International career
Kerkez was eligible to play for both the Hungary and Serbia national teams. He represented Hungary at both under-17 and under-21 level, before being called up to the Hungary senior team in June 2022, when he was named on the substitutes bench for a 2022–23 UEFA Nations League match against England. [19] On 23 September 2022, Kerkez made his first appearance for Hungary, playing the full match at left wing-back as the team beat Germany 1–0 in Leipzig.[20]
On 16 November 2023, he received a red card in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match against Bulgaria.[21] However, his expulsion did not affect negatively the outcome of the match since Hungary qualified for the UEFA Euro 2024. In an interview, Szoboszlai said that Kerkez "was told in three distinct languages not to do anything stupid" during the match against Bulgaria.[22]
On 14 May 2024, Kerkez was named in Hungary's squad for UEFA Euro 2024.[23] In Hungary's opening match of the tournament against Switzerland, he played 79 minutes before being substituted for Martin Ádám as the team were beaten 3–1 in Cologne.[24] In doing so, he became the youngest player to make an appearance for Hungary at a UEFA European Championship since Zoltán Varga and Ferenc Bene played in the 1964 third-place play-off.[25] He went on to start against both Germany and Scotland as Hungary finished third in Group A.[26][27]
Personal life
Kerkez was born in the same town, Vrbas (Verbász in Hungarian) in Serbia, as Hungarian singer Magdi Rúzsa and psychiatrist Imre Csernus.[28] He speaks Serbian, Hungarian, English and German.[29]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Győr | 2020–21 | NB II | 16 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 18 | 0 | |||
| Milan | 2021–22 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| Jong AZ | 2021–22 | Eerste Divisie | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||||
| AZ | 2021–22 | Eredivisie | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2022–23 | Eredivisie | 33 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 17[d] | 2 | — | 52 | 5 | |||
| Total | 33 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | 17 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 57 | 5 | |||
| AFC Bournemouth | 2023–24 | Premier League | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 86 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 117 | 5 | ||
International
- As of match played 23 June 2024[32]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hungary | 2022 | 4 | 0 |
| 2023 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 19 | 0 | |
References
