Transfer News: Liverpool target Germany’s most exciting teenage midfielder

Transfer News: Sky Sports Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg broke the story on 25 May 2026, reporting that Liverpool had entered the race for 16-year-old defensive midfielder Kennet Eichhorn, who is already a regular for Hertha Berlin, in what he described as a “very concrete” way.

Concrete talks have already taken place, as sources from England confirmed, making this far more than a routine scouting report. Eichhorn’s current market value sits at €20 million on Transfermarkt, though his release clause for the upcoming summer is valued between €10–12 million, a figure that makes him accessible to several elite clubs simultaneously.

Transfer News: Who is Kennet Eichhorn?

The 186cm defensive midfielder signed his first professional contract with Hertha BSC on 4 July 2025, and made his senior debut on 10 August 2025, aged just 16 years and 14 days, becoming the youngest ever debutant in the 2. Bundesliga. Since that debut, Eichhorn has covered 139.2 km in Germany’s second division with 129 sprints and 764 intensive runs, numbers that demonstrate an extraordinary physical maturity for his age.

He draws comparisons with Toni Kroos and cites Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Busquets as his idols, which tells you everything about how he approaches the position. However, given his age, the defensive midfielder will not be able to move to Merseyside until he is 18, even if a deal is agreed this summer.

Transfer News: Liverpool or Man City — who needs him more?

Newcastle United and Manchester City are now facing a possible hijack from Liverpool in the race for Eichhorn’s signature, though my view is clear: Liverpool need him less urgently than City do. Bernardo Silva and John Stones are on their way out at the Etihad, with uncertainty surrounding Tijjani Reijnders and Nico Gonzalez as well, leaving City’s midfield engine in genuine disarray ahead of Enzo Maresca’s arrival.

Transfer news: Liverpool’s £50m star on the brink of leaving?

Liverpool, by contrast, hold a settled and proven core. Eichhorn profiles as exactly the deep-lying conductor that City’s post-Guardiola era will desperately require, and at €10–12m for a player already registering record-breaking transfer news numbers at 16, the value is almost absurd. Liverpool’s pursuit of him reflects excellent long-term planning, but Manchester City pursuing him would reflect immediate structural necessity.