Liverpool get Kees Smit green light: This is what midfielder wants

Liverpool’s pursuit of AZ Alkmaar prodigy Kees Smit has moved a decisive step closer after the 20-year-old informed intermediaries that Champions League football will be the non-negotiable factor in selecting his next club. With the Reds battling to secure a top-five Premier League finish and the accompanying European berth, the coming weeks could determine whether Anfield becomes Smit’s destination this summer.

According to briefing notes circulating among European recruitment departments, Smit “is more likely to join either Liverpool or Arsenal than Newcastle United in the summer transfer window,” provided the chosen club can offer group-stage Champions League football. The same document stresses that “Smit is destined to join a team playing in the Champions League if he leaves Alkzaar in the upcoming summer window,” instantly narrowing the field of realistic suitors.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, locked in a title duel, already occupy one of England’s four slots, while Liverpool remain within striking distance of qualification. Failure to secure a place at Europe’s top table, sources indicate, would effectively eliminate the Merseyside club from the race and open the door for the Emirates outfit or a continental powerhouse such as Real Madrid or Barcelona, both of whom are monitoring the Dutchman’s situation.

Smit’s rise has been methodical yet meteoric. Joining AZ aged nine, he navigated every academy level in Heiloo before debuting for the first team at 17. Along the way he lifted the UEFA Youth League trophy with the club’s U19 side and, by the current 2025-26 campaign, has become a fixture in the senior squad, amassing more than 1,200 minutes across 16 competitive matches, contributing one goal and three assists while featuring in both domestic and European fixtures.

Observers describe the 1.86 m midfielder as a press-resistant orchestrator comfortable as either a deep-lying playmaker or a box-to-box operator. His game is built on a nuanced passing spectrum, tight control under pressure, and the ability to glide past opponents before dissecting lines with the final ball. Defensive diligence complements his creative output, making him the prototype modern No. 8.

Any deal, however, will come at a premium. Splotched with AZ until June 2028 and earning a modest €180,000 base salary in 2024-25, the Netherlands youth international is valued by his club at between €60 million and €75 million. That fee reflects both elite demand—Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund and Newcastle have all scouted him extensively—and Smit’s publicly stated ambition to move abroad by 2027, with the summer of 2026 identified as a pivotal window.

For Liverpool, the equation is simple: secure Champions League qualification and their recruitment team believe they have the green light from Sopt to accelerate negotiations; miss out, and the rising star will take his talents elsewhere, leaving the club to explore alternative reinforcements in an increasingly competitive midfield market.