Kerim Alajbegovic: The Record Transfer Without a Minute Played

The World Cup contingent was back at Bayer Leverkusen on Monday, drifting in from their extended holidays and into pre-season drills. Among them, an 18-year-old who will barely be allowed to break sweat.

Kerim Alajbegovic is too valuable to risk now.

“He will be there on Monday for the return of the World Cup players,” sporting director Simon Rolfes told Bild. Present, but wrapped in cotton wool. Leverkusen know they are standing on the brink of a record deal, and one awkward twist of an ankle could blow up a transfer that has turned into a full-blown auction.

A Record in Waiting

The numbers are staggering for a teenager who has not yet played a single professional minute for Leverkusen.

Chelsea, according to Bild, put 40 million euros on the table for the Bosnia international. That figure matches Leverkusen’s valuation and would set a Bundesliga benchmark: no club from Germany’s top flight has ever bought or sold an Under-19 player for more.

The current record belongs to Bayern Munich, who paid around 35 million euros to Benfica for Renato Sanches in 2016. Alajbegovic is about to clear that bar without having kicked a ball in the Bundesliga.

From Leverkusen’s perspective, that is the surreal part. They are not cashing in on a proven star, but on a promise. A prospect. A player they hoped would shape their future, now being flipped at a profit that belongs more to established Champions League regulars than to an 18-year-old still learning the rhythms of elite football.

“Kerim has made an incredible development. He is extremely ambitious and has developed astonishingly quickly,” Rolfes told Sport1. The admiration is genuine. So is the business sense.

From Leverkusen to Salzburg and Back Again

The plan was bold from the start.

Last summer, Leverkusen allowed their academy talent to move to Salzburg. The Austrians paid two million euros, but Leverkusen quietly built in an eight-million-euro buy-back clause. It was a calculated gamble: let him grow elsewhere, then bring him home if he explodes.

For a while, it looked like the adaptation might drag. Alajbegovic admitted to Salzburg’s club media that the first weeks were tough: a month and a half in a hotel, alone, cut off from familiar surroundings. The football followed the mood.

Then it clicked.

Once settled, he tore into the Austrian game. Thirteen goals and four assists in 44 competitive matches for Salzburg turned the loan-style detour into a launchpad. By the end of his stint, he could look back and say: “It was the best decision to come here.” He spoke of maturing as a player and as a person, even confronting his own temperament.

“I am someone who really hates losing. I really hate it. Sometimes I become very aggressive – and I was then also taught that I should stay calm.”

That edge, refined rather than removed, became part of the package.

The buy-back became a formality. After half a season, Leverkusen knew they had to trigger the clause. Eight million euros to re-sign a player they had sold for two. Now they stand to turn that into a fee that could reach 40 million. For a club that prides itself on smart recruitment, it is the perfect case study.

World Cup Stage, Global Spotlight

When Alajbegovic walked back into Leverkusen this week, he was no longer just an academy graduate returning from a loan. He came back as a World Cup participant and the youngest debutant in Bosnia’s history.

He had already forced his way into the national team picture, then cemented his status in the pressure cooker of the World Cup play-offs. He played a decisive role in Bosnia’s wins over Wales and Italy, dragging his country to the tournament and onto the global radar.

On the biggest stage, he delivered again. A stunning goal against Qatar showcased what Rolfes later summed up in one simple trait: “He has exceptional shooting technique, also from outside the box. That really makes him special.”

Those strikes, those moments under the spotlight, turned a promising talent into a multi-million asset almost overnight. Scouts took notice. Sporting directors called. The bidding started.

Chelsea, Alonso and a Complication Called Rogers

Chelsea’s interest does not come out of nowhere. Xabi Alonso is now in the Stamford Bridge dugout, and he knows Alajbegovic as well as anyone in elite management.

At Leverkusen, Alonso had already pulled the youngster into the matchday squad several times. He never sent him over the white line, not even for a late cameo, but the impression in training stuck. The Spaniard has seen the development from close range. Those memories now carry a 40-million-euro price tag.

Yet the path to London is no longer clear.

Chelsea have just brought in Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa for a massive fee, also earmarked for the attacking midfield role. With that signing in place, Alajbegovic is said to be scrutinising Chelsea’s plans carefully. A move that immediately leads to a loan – potentially to Racing Strasbourg, part of the same ownership group – no longer appeals to him, according to reports. That kind of detour, he had previously ruled out.

The project matters as much as the money. Being bought as a trading chip does not fit the image of a player who has just fought his way through World Cup qualifiers into a starting role for his country.

Juventus Step In

The hesitation in London has opened the door in Turin.

Juventus have surged to the front of the queue in recent days. Italian reports describe them as favourites in the race, while Sky goes further, speaking of an agreement between all parties.

The structure is clear: a basic fee of 33 million euros, with bonuses that could lift the total to the 40 million Chelsea were willing to pay. Leverkusen get their record sale. The buyer gets a teenager they believe can walk straight into the team.

That is the key selling point from Juventus. They are said to have promised Alajbegovic a place directly in the starting XI, and that message has been delivered to him personally. For an 18-year-old who has just tasted the World Cup and wants continuity at the highest level, that commitment carries weight.

According to Sky, only the final details remain before the deal can be announced. Clauses, add-ons, signatures – the usual fine print before a career changes course.

A Record Without a Debut

Whether it is Chelsea, Juventus, or a late challenger still lurking in the background, one element is already beyond doubt.

The Bundesliga is about to witness a record transfer for an Under-19 player, and it will involve a footballer who never actually played a competitive minute for the club selling him.

Leverkusen will lose a dream rather than a regular starter. Yet in modern football, that dream now comes with a 40-million-euro price tag. The question is no longer whether Kerim Alajbegovic will move – it is which shirt he will be wearing when he proves that fee was just the beginning.