Milos Kerkez on Mo Salah’s exit, Liverpool’s ‘new generation’ and new left-back rival

Milos Kerkez on the departure of Mohamed Salah, competing with Kostas Tsimikas at Liverpool and the importance of Dominik Szoboszlai

Milos Kerkez says the departure of Mohamed Salah means it’s time for “a new generation” at Liverpool.

And Kerkez insists there is “no bad blood” with fellow left-back Kostas Tsimikas, who has returned to the club this summer to compete for a place with the £40m defender under Andoni Iraola.

Kerkez grew close to Salah during their one season together and the 22-year-old has kept in touch with the Egyptian following his end-of-season exit. In an interview with a handful of publications including the ECHO in Chicago, Kerkez explained how impactful Salah’s time on Merseyside was but said he was unsure as to the Liverpool legend’s next move as a free agent.

Kerkez also outlined his good relationship with Tsimikas, who is back to challenge for a place in the team at left-back after a season-long loan spell with Roma in Serie A.

Kerkez said: “As for Mo, I saw on the TV before we left the AXA [Training Centre], how many goals and assists Mo had, it was 300 and something. I just walked out! What is this?!

“But time flies, a new generation comes with new players and hopefully everything will be good. Yeah we speak often [with Salah] but I don’t know who he is signing for! We just talk about vacations.

“Kostas and I get on well. Last pre-season we also connected really good. It was me, Dom [Szoboszlai], Kostas and Mo. There is no bad blood. Kostas is Greek, I’m Serbian, we have that kind of similar mentality.

“The summer was nice. I spent time with my family, rested a bit and honestly it was getting boring after about 10 days so I needed to get in the gym and touch the ball a little bit. Overall it was a nice time off. I was at home in Serbia, I was in Spain a bit, I was around Montenegro for a bit and then I was back home in Serbia.”

Kerkez is particularly close to his fellow Hungarian, Szoboszlai, who was Liverpool’s outstanding player last term and has been rewarded with a new contract, confirmed earlier this month. On his compatriot’s new deal, Kerkez adds: “It was very important. Last year you could see how important he was with everything.

“He is getting even better in that role of a leader and he is very important for us. Everyone is really happy that he is continuing for longer.”