LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool signed Hungary left back Milos Kerkez to a long-term contract on Thursday after paying a reported transfer fee of 40 million pounds ($54 million) to Bournemouth.
The Premier League champion's most expensive addition, Germany midfielder Florian Wirtz, was announced last Friday, and that followed the signing of Netherlands right back Jeremie Frimpong, with both coming from Bayer Leverkusen.
“I’m really happy," Kerkez said. “It’s a real honour for me, a privilege to come to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world, (the) biggest club in England. I’m just really, really happy and excited."
Kerkez's arrival raises questions about 31-year-old Andy Robertson's future at Anfield. The Scotland left back has been linked to a move to Atletico Madrid.
The 21-year-old Kerkez made 38 Premier League appearances for Bournemouth last season when the Cherries finished ninth with a club-record 56 points in the English top flight. He scored twice and had six assists. He also has 23 appearances for Hungary.
Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes knows Kerkez well, having been Bournemouth's technical director before moving to Anfield a year ago.
Liverpool opens next season in the curtainraising Community Shield on Aug. 10 at Wembley Stadium against FA Cup champion Crystal Palace.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Bournemouth's Milos Kerkez runs into position during the English Premier League soccer match against Newcastle United, at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, England, Aug. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Dave Shopland, file)
A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.
A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.
Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.
For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.
The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”
Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.
Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)
