Sky reporter: Liverpool ‘monitoring’ European wonderkid who’s already earned Messi comparisons | OneFootball

A reliable transfer reporter has claimed that Liverpool are among several elite European clubs pursuing a teenage wonderkid who’s already earned comparisons to a certain Lionel Messi.

Ever since the Argentine icon began to establish himself at Barcelona in the 2000s, a plethora of prodigious youngsters have been burdened with nicknames involving the current Inter Miami star, many of whom ultimately failed to live up to that illustrious billing.

That nonetheless doesn’t seem to have deterred the Reds from taking an interest in Red Star Belgrade attacking midfielder/forward Andrija Maksimovic, who earned that famous nickname due to a childhood likeness to Alexis Mac Allister’s international teammate.

(Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Liverpool ‘monitoring’ Andrija Maksimovic

On Monday night, Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg took to X to share the news that Liverpool are ‘monitoring’ the 17-year-old, who’s also the subject of admiring glances from Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and Manchester City.

The teenager’s contract in the Serbian capital runs to 2027, with his club likely to demand at least €15m (£12.5m) if they’re to part with him.

Maksimovic has some of Messi’s hallmarks

Born two weeks after Liverpool’s defeat to AC Milan in the 2007 Champions League final, Maksimovic is still in the infancy of his career, having made just seven appearances so far for Red Star’s first team, although he had a formidable scoring return of 29 goals in 26 games for their under-17 side (Transfermarkt).

He was also entrusted with a senior Serbia debut at the weekend, coming off the bench in their 2-0 win over Switzerland, and he’s already displayed an impressive range of standout attributes.

As highlighted by Jacek Kulig for Football Talent Scout, the 17-year-old is a ‘highly creative’ number 10 who’s ‘extremely elegant’ in the dribble and possesses a ‘very high football IQ’, along with an ‘excellent first touch’ and above-average composure in tight spaces.

Those are all traits which have been associated with Messi throughout his career, and although Maksimovic would have to go some way to even coming close to replicating the Argentine’s achievements, we can see why he’s been attracting interest from the likes of Liverpool.

He seems to be quite an exciting prospect, and it should be intriguing to see what progress he makes over the next few months, and whether he’d be ready for a move to Anfield in the foreseeable future.