Liverpool FIRMLY competing for 17-year-old 'Messi' generating SERIOUS hype

Liverpool are in the mix as competition builds for a 17-year-old ‘Messi’ generating plenty of hype right now.

Sky Germany's Patrick Berger claims Liverpool are one of several elite clubs pushing to grab midfielder Andrija Maksimovic from Red Star in Serbia. The 17-year-old is shaping up to be one of the hottest prospects in Europe, having already made an impression at senior level.

In fact, Maksimovic is an international, having debuted for Serbia on Saturday.

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"Borussia Dortmund has Andrija Maksimovic from Red Star Belgrade in its sights," writes Berger on Twitter. "Youngest ever Serbian international since this weekend.

"Contract with Red Star until 2027. Price tag: at least €15m (around £12m). No concrete move yet, just feeling things out... But the competition is big: Juventus, Manchester City and Liverpool are among those next according to Sky information."

Liverpool eye Andrija Maksimovic

£12m for a 17-year-old playing in Serbia is a lot of money. It should highlight just how exciting Maksimovic is as a talent, though - he could be playing at a top club very, very soon.

He already has the right nickname: Messi.

Surprisingly, that has nothing to do with his talent and it's not a case of Maksimovic being 'the Serbian Messi'. It's simply that his sister thought he haircut looked like Messi's when he was small - and that nickname stuck (per Serbian Football Scout on Twitter).

Liverpool may exercise a little bit of caution on 'the next big thing from Serbia', mind. They've been in that particular situation twice before and neither worked out.

There was Lazar Markovic, of course. He was an expensive arrival in 2014 who didn't come close to working out, while Marko Grujic simply didn't get the necessary opportunities after joining in 2016.

But with the Reds always eager to snap up the next top talents across the world, Maksimovic may well be worth taking a chance on.