Agent confirms Liverpool and Aston Villa interest in 'Serbian Messi'

Tom Weber

• Updated: 4 Feb 2025 07:58 CST
• 3 min read

The agent of Red Star wonderkid Andrija Maksimovic has confirmed Liverpool's interest in his client.

The 17-year-old has emerged as one of European football's biggest talents this season. Pulled up from Red Star's farm team Graficar, Maksimovic has starred for the senior side and become a regular starter, even in the Champions League.

His rise to prominence has, unsurprisingly, attracted the attention of clubs around Europe and a host of sides have been linked with the 'Serbian Messi' in recent months.

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From the Bundesliga to LaLiga and, of course, the Premier League, Maksimovic has no shortage of suitors. The names of Liverpool and Aston Villa have cropped up repeatedly in connection with the versatile midfielder and his agent Zoran Stojadinovic has now confirmed the interest.

Maksimovic interest confirmed

Given his age and Serbia's non-EU status, Maksimovic would not have been able to make the move abroad in January and clubs therefore refrained from acting on their interest.

Maksimovic turns 18 on June 5 and is known to be keen on taking the next step in his career, which will have encouraged clubs that they will be able to get a cheaper deal in the summer.

Speaking on Miljanov korner, Stojadinovic discussed his client's future and drew comparisons to Martin Baturina, who suits up for Serbia's Balkan rivals Croatia.

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"It's no secret, Liverpool, Aston Villa, Leipzig, Atletico Madrid are among them," Stojadinovic said of Maksimovic's suitors "Clubs from the top leagues have shown interest, and that's where we come to the price."

"If it's €20m, then they say, 'we'll wait until June because he can't go anyway, so let's see him off until June.' If it was €10m and he could go immediately, he would have already been sold.

"I watched Arsenal vs Dinamo Zagreb to compare Baturina, who is rumoured to be worth €25m-€30m, with Maksimovic. And I can say that [general director Zvezdan] Terzic is rightfully asking for €20m if Dinamo is asking for €30m for Baturina, who is 22 years old.

"I have not seen that Baturina is stronger than Maksimovic in any part of the game."