Liverpool beat Real Madrid to sign 18-year-old goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans from Genk on transfer deadline day, with the £30m agreement making him the most expensive teenage goalkeeper in football history.
The Reds moved quickly on September 1, with Brughmans undergoing a medical in Belgium before completing his switch. He will remain with Genk for the rest of the season and hopes to become Alisson Becker's long-term successor at Anfield.
Genk caught off guard by Liverpool's move
Genk always hoped to pocket a sizable fee for the Belgian, but by their own admission, they were not expecting a deal to be agreed so early in his career - or for him to be the subject of such a hefty transfer fee. The teenager has only made 17 senior appearances for the club, having only established himself as Genk's number one goalkeeper at the back end of last season.
According to The Daily Mail, Brughmans had been taken to Real Madrid and was expected to follow in the footsteps of his idol Thibaut Courtois. However, Liverpool moved quickly and made their offer to Genk on Sunday morning before transfer deadline day. By Monday morning, he was on a jet to Merseyside.
Sporting director admits surprise
Genk's sporting director, Dimitri de Conde, admitted he was caught off guard by Liverpool's move for the shot-stopper.
"My first reaction was: 'Oh boy, what now?'" he told Het Laatste Nieuws, as quoted by Sport Witness. "I knew he was on the radar of top clubs. That he'd even visited Real Madrid. And that he was one of the lads we hoped to get a handsome fee for at some point, to ensure the club's survival.
"But for it to happen *that* quickly. And for *that* amount. I never saw that coming.
"People saying 'It's fantastic what De Conde achieved with his experience regarding Lucca's transfer!'? Sorry, but that's not the case.
"In the end, I got a call from his agency at 11am on a Sunday, two days before the English transfer window closed: 'Liverpool is serious. This is the offer'. And the very next morning, Lucca was on a plane to Liverpool.
"I do take credit for the fact that we, as a club, chose that path. I don't pick the starting lineup – let's be clear about that – but at a certain point, we gave Lucca his chance. It might have only been in the Play-Off 2 stage, but we did it nonetheless."
