Dominik Szoboszlai - Welcome to Liverpool

[Jose Jones]

1 hour ago, etho said:

German though aren't they, they call Klopp Kloppo

You’re in Germany too then Eth?

[Bjornebye]

33 minutes ago, Kevin D said:

Not convinced that there was a lot of feeling in those negs, when I know your heart belongs to another.

 

Nah no feelings at all. *wipes tear away*

[JohnnyH]

1 hour ago, Remmie said:

Dominik? 

 

My phone has learnt the spelling and as long as you remember the s and z go together twice it's not that hard. Szoboszlai. 

 

I've always hated football fans who call players by their first names, like it's their mate or something.

 

[Kevin D]

14 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

 

Nah no feelings at all. *wipes tear away*

I think you emptied out your full 5 a day negs on me, there, though.

 

Rookie mistake.

[Bjornebye]

22 minutes ago, Kevin D said:

I think you emptied out your full 5 a day negs on me, there, though.

 

Rookie mistake.

 

Nope still got some. 

[Chris]

On 30/06/2023 at 21:24, Megadrive Man said:

Looking forward to hearing @dave u and @Chris absolutely butcher his surname on the next podcast.

 

Oi! I resemble that remark! 

[redrosetints]

Dominik Szoboszlai signing shows why Liverpool feel justified by Jude Bellingham decision

Having completed £60 million signing of Hungarian, club have bought two midfielders with £20 million to spare for the price of Bellingham

ByChris Bascombe2 July 2023 • 4:14pm

 

Dominik Szoboszlai is Liverpool's second midfield signing of the summer CREDIT: Getty Images/Odd Andersen

Liverpool have confirmed the £60 million signing of Dominik Szoboszlai.

The Hungarian international has signed a five-year contract, and joins with Jurgen Klopp having targeted the 22-year-old after stepping away from the pursuit of Manchester United-bound Mason Mount.

Klopp was originally keen on the England international but decided the fee and personal terms for Szoboszlai represented great value.

While Mount is understood to be commanding around £250k a week at United, Szoboszlai will be earning less than half that salary. His age profile also made him a highly prized alternative after Liverpool’s recruiters completed due diligence on a range of targets.

Liverpool were also able to conclude negotiations swiftly with his former club, RB Leipzig, after triggering a release clause on Friday. Szoboszlai will add a new dimension to Klopp’s midfield. Klopp sees him being able to fill a variety of roles, either as a number 8, a deep striker, or a wide man.

‘Just as talented as Erling Haaland’

When Liverpool confirmed they were stepping aside in the pursuit of Jude Bellingham, Klopp’s explanation was that he needed at least three class players to reboot his starting XI, not one.

The £60 million signing of Szoboszlai means Liverpool already having two on board for £20 million less than Real Madrid committed for England’s coveted young superstar.  By any metric, that looks like canny work, especially as Szoboszlai’s former RB Salzburg coach, Jesse Marsch, is widely quoted suggesting the Hungary midfielder is “just as talented as Erling Haaland”.

It remains to be seen how effective Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister — signed with haste from Brighton and Hove Albion for a meagre £35 million — will be at restoring Liverpool’s top-four status, let alone reigniting title bids.

But after all the emotion when Liverpool candidly admitted they were neither willing nor able to compete for a £115 million generational talent, the rationale of the club’s transfer policy is being put into practice.

The cold hard truth is that logically and financially, Klopp and owner Fenway Sports Group had to spread their resources rather than engage in a time-consuming saga they probably would have lost anyway given Bellingham has subsequently said he always dreamed of the Bernabeu.

It should be said there was some misunderstanding at the reaction to Liverpool dropping out of the Bellingham race when they did. No matter how great Bellingham is, three class players will always enhance a squad more than a single, albeit exceptional purchase. The source of angst on the Kop was that a club which has been lavished in praise for its forward-thinking needs so much right now.  With smarter signings in the summer of 2022, Liverpool would not be in such a situation in 2023.

Liverpool badly misjudged how rapidly their central zone needed upgrading to avoid last season’s fall. It should never have reached that point so — at the time — walking away from Bellingham seemed emblematic of self-inflicted weakness, even if the same decision may have been taken from a position of strength 12 months earlier.

Klopp argued with some force that is retrospective wisdom given this time last year his side was coming off the back of a quadruple bid, but he was asked about midfield reinforcement in his first press conference last summer and insisted that could wait, listing his many options.

“What do we want? This ‘Golden Cow’ that is producing absolutely everything, milk as well!” he said in July, 2022.

He had not foreseen how long it would take for senior players such as Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to recover from the rigours of successive campaigns. A month later, 36-year-old James Milner was deputising in central midfield and Liverpool were seeking an emergency replacement on deadline day for their injured captain Henderson.

The average age of Klopp’s most experienced midfield starting options last August was 29-years-old. That dropped as the season progressed with the emergence of 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic, and return to fitness and form of 22-year-old Curtis Jones.

With the departures of Milner, Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain, Naby Keita and the barely seen Arthur Melo, replaced by 24-year-old Mac Allister and 22-year-old Szoboszlai, Liverpool’s midfield is younger and more dynamic. The salaries of the new recruits should offer more value for money than Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain, too. Add Trent Alexander-Arnold’s hybrid role and the ever-improving teenager Harvey Elliott and the foundations are in place for the next four years.

 

Liverpool's ageing midfield was a major weakness last season CREDIT: Getty Images/Robbie Jay Barratt

Changing of the guard at Anfield

Szoboszlai’s arrival will reinforce the changing on-field as much as the age profile of Klopp’s midfield, the pragmatism of the Champions League and Premier League winning side evolving into a more creative unit.

Szoboszlai is multi-faceted, his productivity particularly impressive with regards to his goals and assists. The Red Bull empire has proven adept at unearthing gems, Szboloszlai was responsible for 26 goals and 35 assists in 83 games for RB Salzburg before moving to Leipzig in January 2021.

After injuries delayed his debut, his impact was immediate with two goals on debut. Measuring six foot one and described as two footer, Bundesliga aficionados have compared his style to Portugal legend Rui Costa. Not since Philippe Coutinho have Liverpool possessed such an attacking presence among their middle three, although it would seem Szoboszlai would be equally comfortable playing higher upfield.

“He’s an unbelievably ambitious player, who wants to win,” Leipzig coach Marco Rose said last January. “His shooting is exceptional, especially from range.”

Will it appease the section of the fanbase who were questioning FSG’s recruitment strategy? Now the Szoboszlai deal has gone through, the critics ought to be temporarily appeased, content that the promise of summer spending is being kept.

Klopp went into last season with an exhausted, ageing midfield. With the first two deals and a reinvented Alexander-Arnold the position looks re-energised. After missing out on Bellingham, perhaps Klopp has found his ‘golden cow’ after all, while still having cash to spare.

Related Topics

• Liverpool FC, 
• Jurgen Klopp, 
• Premier League

[redrosetints]

10 hours ago, Ne Moe Imya said:

 

With some people it only lasts a few hours.

 

When we bought Nunez, there were a bunch of posts on the FSG Out thread calling them out for never spending any money within a day.

Shit Gary’s then …

[Aventus]

1 hour ago, JohnnyH said:

 

I've always hated football fans who call players by their first names, like it's their mate or something.

 

My face right now after finding out I can't call players by their first names. 

[gkmacca]

We should have a new ratings system: how many tribute documentaries a player is worth. My bet on this player is two offal site docs or three and a half RedmenTV docs and a live chat where they keep saying 'boss' a lot. 

[Bobby Hundreds]

When's his podcast out? His TLW tribute!

[Strontium]

Fun fact: Szobzy is the only person in Britain called Dominik apart from Dominik Diamond

 

More fun facts the same time tomorrow

[redrosetints]

3 minutes ago, Strontium said:

Fun fact: Szobzy is the only person on Britain called Dominik apart from Dominik Diamond

 

More fun facts the same time tomorrow

Dom lives in Canada now ….

[Strontium]

1 minute ago, redrosetints said:

Dom lives in Canada now ….

 

There's always one

[redrosetints]

Just now, Strontium said:

 

There's always one

Well actually, there were two, but now only one ….

[gkmacca]

51 minutes ago, Strontium said:

Fun fact: Szobzy is the only person in Britain called Dominik apart from Dominik Diamond

 

More fun facts the same time tomorrow

 

Dom has since discovered that he has Argentinian-Celtic ancestry, so he is now calling himself Dominick Dia  Mond.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Strontium said:

Fun fact: Szobzy is the only person in Britain called Dominik apart from Dominik Diamond

 

More fun facts the same time tomorrow

Still waiting for today’s fun fact.

[El Dangerous]

49 minutes ago, Shooter in the Motor said:

Still waiting for today’s fun fact.

Doms homeland was originally part of Romania but was conquered and annexed off by the Nazis and awarded to the biggest dicked Nazi’s hence the name Hung Aryans.

[coachpotato]

7 hours ago, JohnnyH said:

I’ve  always hated football fans who call players by their first names, like it's their mate or something.

 

There was once a habit for Evertonians to call their players in a matey fashion, I remember Sheeds, Sharpy, Inchy, Ratters etc. 

Now it’s “Useless Twat”, “Gobshite” or similar.

[gkmacca]

 

The Bitter Tea of Goodison.

[Reckoner]

7 hours ago, Aventus said:

My face right now after finding out I can't call players by their first names. 

He can’t mean ‘Trent’ surely?

[JohnnyH]

2 hours ago, coachpotato said:

There was once a habit for Evertonians to call their players in a matey fashion, I remember Sheeds, Sharpy, Inchy, Ratters etc. 

Now it’s “Useless Twat”, “Gobshite” or similar.

And in that bracket “Scholesy, Giggsy, Becks”. A Man Utd pal of mine back in the day used to refer to “Eric”.  It was like nails down a chalk board. 

 

 

33 minutes ago, Reckoner said:

He can’t mean ‘Trent’ surely?

See, that’s the funny one. It makes absolute sense to call him Trent instead of his ridiculously long surname. I’m pretty sure I’ve said/written it in the past, but I feel a knot in my stomach as I do. 

[TheHowieLama]

Ox.

[Bjornebye]

Any of our so called fans written him off before he’s kicked a ball for us yet? 

[Reckoner]

10 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

Any of our so called fans written him off before he’s kicked a ball for us yet? 

I hate him.