RB Leipzig announced on its official website on Thursday that the club has signed Belgium international winger wonderkid Johan Bakayoko and Serbia international midfielder wonderkid Andrija Maksimović from PSV Eindhoven and Red Star Belgrade respectively.

According to Leipzig's official statement, Bakayoko and Maksimović have signed both on a long-term five-year deal with the club which runs until the summer of 2030. The former will wear the No. 9 jersey which was vacated after Denmark international forward Yussuf Poulsen had left the club; Maksimović will wear the No. 33 jersey previously worn by Portugal international forward André Silva.

In addition, according to the news brought by Sky Sports' resident renowned German transfer journalist Florian Plettenberg, Leipzig paid €22 million and €14 million to PSV Eindhoven and Red Star Belgrade respectively to sign Bakayoko and Maksimović.

After completing his joining procedures, Bakayoko, who was interviewed by RB Leipzig official website for the first time, said: "I am very much looking forward to the new challenge at RB Leipzig. This club enjoys a high reputation in the international stage and represents an ambitious and offensive style of football, which is exactly what I like."

"Leipzig has tried to sign me again and again in the past few years, and I have been impressed by their full commitment to me. This, as well as the recent communication with the management, played a decisive role in my final choice to join Leipzig and the Bundesliga."

"I immediately felt that the club had a clear plan for me and that I could play to my strengths here in a targeted manner. 

Maksimović said: "I am very happy to be a player of RB Leipzig now. The club made a great effort to sign me and presented a clear competitive plan, which excited me immediately. "

"Kosta Nedeljković, who I knew from Belgrade and the Serbian national team, told me a lot of positive things about the club and the city, which really helped me to make up my mind. 

"Now, I want to do my part to help us celebrate the victory with the fans. I will work hard every day with the team to achieve this goal. ”

It is worth mentioning that with this transfer, the rumours claiming that Bakayoko will join Liverpool, which have been circulating in almost every transfer window for nearly three years, will be quashed.

About Johan Bakayoko

Johan Bakayoko, who is only 22 years old, was born on April 20, 2003 in Overijse, Belgium. He is 1.79 meters tall and primarily plays as a right winger. He can also play as a left winger, center forward or attacking midfielder. He has the nationalities of Belgium, Cote d'Ivoire and Rwanda.

When he was a child, Bakayoko played for the youth academies of OH Leuven, Club Brugge, KV Mechelen and Anderlecht. In 2019, he joined the PSV Eindhoven youth academy, started playing for its reserve team the following year and completed his PSV Eindhoven first-team debut by coming on as a substitute in a KNVB Cup match in February 2022.

Bakayoko has been compared to Liverpool's new signing, Netherlands international right-wing back Jeremie Frimpong, for many years because of his style of play.

During his three-year spell with the Lampen, Bakayoko made 131 appearances for PSV Eindhoven across all competitions, scored 33 times and assisted 22 times. During which he has won the Eredivisie twice and the Johan Cruyff Shield (Dutch Super Cup) twice and the KNVB Cup once with the club.

About Andrija Maksimović

Andrija Maksimović, who is only 18 years old, was born on June 5, 2007 in Novi Pazar, Serbia. He is 1.82 meters tall and primarily plays as an attacking midfielder. He can also play as a right winger. His father Mirko is also a former player at non-league club level.

Maksimović played for youth academy of Novi Pazar and non-league club Vlada Dimitrijević when he was a child. He joined the Red Star Belgrade youth academy in 2021. After being promoted to the first-team in the summer of 2023, he was immediately loaned-out to its feeder club Grafičar Beograd.

In August of the same year, Maksimović, who was still 16 years old at the time, started the game in his first-team debut for Grafičar Beograd and even scored in the game, breaking the club's youngest debutant and youngest goal scorer records at once.

Four months later, Maksimović completed his Red Star Belgrade first-team debut by coming on as a substitute in a Serbian Cup match.

During his three-year spell with Zvezda, Maksimović played 41 times for the club in all competitions, scored 6 goals, assisted 8 times, and completed the Serbian Superliga and Serbian Cup Double once with the club.