Reds Confirm Verbal Agreement With Genk
Liverpool have got a verbal agreement done with Genk to sign 18-year-old goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans. Here we go, basically. The package comes in around €35 million, and the plan is for the towering Belgian to actually join Liverpool in the summer of 2027, not straight away.
That delay makes sense when you look at how things stand. Liverpool have already got the green light for a medical, but there’s still paperwork to sort once that’s done. Brughmans is under contract at Genk until 2030, so leaving him there another year to keep growing looks like the sensible call for both clubs.
He’s not your average teenage keeper, either. At 6ft 7in, he’s already racked up 15 senior appearances for Genk, four of them in the league this season. He’s kept clean sheets, distributes the ball well for his age, and has come through pretty much every Belgian youth level going back to the Under-15s. He even captains the Under-19s. That’s a fair bit on the shoulders of someone who only turned 18 this summer.
His path to this point is worth mentioning too. He came through the same academy that produced Thibaut Courtois and Mike Penders, and joined Genk from PSV on a free transfer back in 2022. Since then he’s worked his way up from the fringes, and Genk clearly believe in him long-term, given they handed him an early contract extension not that long ago.
Liverpool’s interest here connects to what’s going on with Giorgi Mamardashvili. Nottingham Forest have been sniffing around the Georgian, and if that move happens, it leaves a real gap behind Alisson. Brughmans is Liverpool’s answer to that, even though he’ll need time before he’s ready for the pressure of the Premier League.
Competition From Bayern Adds Urgency
Liverpool aren’t the only ones keeping an eye on Brughmans. Bayern Munich have reportedly been tracking him too, seemingly viewing him as a long-term option under fellow Belgian Vincent Kompany. That kind of competition probably pushed Liverpool to get something agreed before anyone else could jump in.
Real Madrid have come up in the conversation as well, which only adds to why Liverpool wanted this wrapped up early instead of risking a bidding war down the line. Getting a verbal deal locked in now, even with the move pushed back to 2027, protects Liverpool’s position and gives Brughmans certainty about where he’s headed.
It works out well for Genk too. Keeping hold of their goalkeeper for another season means more first-team minutes in a league he’s still adapting to, plus a fee that reflects his growing reputation rather than a rushed sale under deadline pressure. Genk sit seventh in the Belgian Pro League right now, and Brughmans stays central to their plans until the deal actually goes through.
For Liverpool, this fits a broader habit of thinking years ahead instead of scrambling when a need pops up. Whatever happens with Mamardashvili this window, the succession plan is now in place. Anyone wanting updates on how the goalkeeping situation develops can follow it through KCPredict’s transfer news hub, which tracks these moves as they get confirmed. Outlets including Sky Sports are also covering the wider deadline-day scramble happening across Europe right now.