Liverpool signed Lucca Brughmans in a £30m deal on transfer deadline day from Genk, where he will spend the current campaign
Liverpool FC unveil new signing Lucca Brughmans at AXA Training Centre on September 02, 2026
Lucca Brughmans has signed for Liverpool(Image: 2026 Liverpool FC)
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The head coach of Genk has vowed to protect new Liverpool goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans, admitting the "spotlight is on" the teenager because of the £30m fee.
And Jess Thorup believes the next few weeks will provide Brughmans with the realisation that he has joined of the biggest clubs in world football ahead of his eventual move to Merseyside next year.
Liverpool moved quickly to fend off interest from a host of other clubs, including Real Madrid, on transfer deadline day, with the 18-year-old undergoing a medical in Belgium last week before completing his switch on September 1.
The £30m agreement makes Brughmans, who will remain with Genk for the campaing ahead, the most expensive teenage goalkeeper in football history and Thorup accepts there will be added scrutiny on the youngster's performances because of the club he has agreed to join and the fee Liverpool have paid.
"Of course I have spoken with Lucca about his transfer," Thorup told HLN. "We talked about what the experience was like to go to Liverpool, also with his family and stuff.
"Every player dreams of this, and suddenly - without realising it - you are in the middle of it. You have to let something like that sink in.
"On the other hand, it is the right choice for everyone that he stays for another year. He can continue to develop here and we have a good goalkeeper at our disposal.
"Although he is only 18, I notice that he remains calm and focused. He has been on the training field for a few days now.
"Probably somewhere in the next few weeks the realization will sink in that his life has changed.
"Of course there is a lot coming at him. The spotlight is on him, because of the amount.
"I will protect him at the right moments, because we must not forget that the status of first goalkeeper of Genk is also still quite new to him."
Thorup added: "Match by match, Steven Frederix (goalkeeper coach) and I see if we should give him a rest.
"My hope is that - since Lucca is someone who sometimes overthinks things too much - this will give him a little more open-mindedness now."