Availability is a player’s greatest asset and Milos Kerkez proved he can be relied upon having been only one of six outfield players to start every Premier League game in 2024/25.
The 21-year-old, named on a six-man shortlist for the PFA Young Player of the Year, is expected to take over as first-choice left-back from next season.
Liverpool made a sizeable £40 million investment by signing the Hungary international and his availability for Bournemouth will not have gone unnoticed by Arne Slot and Co.
He started all 38 games in the Premier League in 2024/25 and played 3,342 minutes from a possible 3,420 – the sixth-most of any outfielder across the competition.
Only Nathan Collins, Bryan Mbeumo, Mo Salah, Moises Caicedo and Max Kilman notched more minutes from their 38 starts.
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Including goalkeepers, Kerkez sits 11th for the most topflight minutes having failed to miss a game due to injury – and only Salah can boast a better record from Liverpool’s dressing room.
The Egyptian started every league game and only missed 40 minutes across the entire title-winning season in yet another display of frightening consistency.
Virgil van Dijk was next best for Liverpool having missed only 90 minutes due to being rested for the trip to Brighton in the penultimate game of the season.
Consistency is key
With the Reds having reduced the number of games missed due to injury by an astonishing 64.3 percent in Slot’s first season, Kerkez’s availability is yet another boost to maintaining consistency.
Slot has made it no secret that he likes to work with a small squad and ensuring the number of injury absences is minimal will be key to success across multiple competitions once more.
The Reds reaped the ultimate reward of a consistent XI by lifting the Premier League trophy in 2024/25, with Slot only making an average of 2.4 changes from one league game directly to the next.
With Andy Robertson also not missing a game due to injury in 2024/25, Liverpool have formidable options at left-back if the Scot stays at Anfield alongside Kerkez next season.
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