Liverpool Pursue AZ Star Kees Smit for £51.5m
Liverpool’s midfield rebuild might not be finished yet. Far from it, if the latest scouting mission is any indication.
Club representatives were in the stands at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday night, watching AZ Alkmaar’s Kees Smit in a 1-0 defeat to Sunderland. The result was irrelevant. The 20-year-old was the show.
TeamTalk report that Smit “started the game and produced another eye-catching display” before AZ were sunk by a late Enzo Le Fée penalty. For scouts, that’s the kind of test that matters: hostile ground, tight game, pressure moments. Smit still impressed.
Liverpool were not alone. Not even close.
Chelsea, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest, Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Brighton all had scouts in attendance, with Smit identified as the primary reason for the trip. When half the Premier League seems to descend on Wearside for the same player, that’s not background noise. That’s a race forming in real time.
A Rising Midfield Centrepiece
Smit has “emerged as one of Europe’s most exciting young midfield talents over the past 18 months” and has grown into a central pillar of AZ’s strong start to the season. With the Dutch side sitting second in the Eredivisie, his influence has only become more obvious.
Liverpool’s interest tracks with that rise. The club are described as “long-term admirers of Smit”, and this latest visit fits into a pattern rather than a one-off look. The report notes that his development since breaking into the AZ first team in 2024 has drawn “sustained interest from England for more than two years”.
This is not a panic search or a reaction to a single standout performance. It’s the continuation of a long scouting arc.
There is already a price tag attached. Smit is labelled a “€60m (£51.5m, $69m) rated star”, a valuation that firmly plants him in the premium young-talent bracket. Any club moving in January knows two things: there will be competition, and there will be no bargain.
January on the Horizon – and a Tactical Question
What sharpens all of this is the situation at Anfield.
TeamTalk claim “The Reds are understood to be considering a mid-season swoop for a new midfielder”, with head coach Andoni Iraola reportedly concerned that “his current options cannot bring his high-intensity press demands to life.”
That line cuts to the heart of Liverpool’s current identity. Iraola’s football leans on aggression, energy and relentless pressing out of possession. If the staff feel the existing midfield cannot consistently hit those physical and tactical heights, a January move becomes more than a luxury. It becomes a necessity.
Liverpool are said to have “shortlisted four potential options ahead of the January window”, and Smit “too can be added to that list.” Nothing is framed as imminent, but the direction of travel is clear: the club are weighing a winter intervention in midfield, and Smit’s profile fits the brief.
Unfinished Business in the Market
There is another thread running through this story. Smit “had been expected to make a move during the summer, but no transfer materialised despite strong interest from clubs across Europe.” When a player of his age and profile stays put after a heavily trailed window, the anticipation usually spills straight into the next one.
His omission from Ronald Koeman’s latest Netherlands squad is mentioned as a setback, yet the report underlines that “That setback has done little to diminish the interest” in him. If anything, his response at club level has kept his stock high and his suitors attentive.
Tuesday night on Wearside was just one more data point. But taken together with the broader context – the price tag, the long-term tracking, the tactical need at Liverpool and the cluster of Premier League scouts – it felt significant.
Liverpool are watching Kees Smit closely. The competition is real. And if that £51.5m valuation holds into January, the decision over whether to push now or wait could end up shaping not just their midfield, but the narrative of the entire window.
