Clearly, the task of the new midfielders was major at Liverpool FC. In one summer, the Mersey club lost Fabinho (29 years old), Jordan Henderson (33 years old) – who left for Saudi Arabia, respectively to Al-Ittihad and Al-Ettifaq, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (30 years old, Besiktas JK) , James Milner (37 years old, Brighton) and Naby Keïta (28 years old, Werder Bremen). Enough to force the Reds to make reinforcements in the midfield their priority during the last transfer window. And after the failures of Caicedo and Lavia, who snubbed the LFC for Chelsea, the Liverpool sports management had succeeded in its mission in this project by notably bringing in young people: Alexis Mac Allister (24 years old), Ryan Gravenberch (21 years old) and Wataru Endo (30 years old) for experience.
An express adaptation
Finally, the most expensive recruit in the summer transfer window: Dominik Szoboszlai (22 years old). Arriving at Anfield from RB Leipzig for a check for 70 million euros, the Hungarian midfielder was already making club history, becoming the third most expensive purchase behind Darwin Núñez ( €75 million) and Virgil van Dijk (€85 million). If he is not at the origin of the price of his transfer, the new 8 of the Reds – thus inheriting the number of the ex-captain and legend of the club, Steven Gerrard – had to meet the expectations of his new supporters, disappointed by the fifth place acquired last season, synonymous with the Europa League. However, the native of Székesfehérvár did not wait long to become the new darling of Liverpool…
Quickly becoming an indisputable starter under the orders of Jürgen Klopp, Dominik Szoboszlai very quickly brought an impact and an offensive projection which the men in red somewhat lacked last season. In addition to his two goals scored between a beautiful volley in the championship and a missile in the English League Cup, the international with 34 caps (7 goals) is an important element of the formation in red, particularly in the circulation of the ball (85 balls touched and 82% of successful passes in the opposing camp on average), his creativity (2.5 successful dribbles per match) but also in defensive work (7 balls recovered on average, 67% of aerial duels won). His coach, Jürgen Klopp, was full of praise for him at a press conference before facing Tottenham.
Szoboszlai, Klopp’s favorite
“I’m also impressed, that’s for sure, declared the Reds technician to journalists. I didn’t know him, I knew him as a footballer, but not as a person before. This boy is impressive, he is very intelligent, he is very kind. He’s a very good boy. He is close to everyone. There are people who walk into a room and get along with everyone, he has that, charisma, whatever you want to call it. He integrated into the team in an instant, that’s for sure, and he was very happy to come here, it was really nice to see. (He was very happy to come here. It was really nice to see how much it meant to him and that’s it.)
The German coach continues on his contribution to the green rectangle since his arrival.“If you’re in that mindset, obviously it’s a good situation to play your best football. That’s what he did almost from the start, he’s a natural, a talent for endurance. He learned it very quickly, and everything else we learn little by little. He never played the position he plays today, he even played for us as a double pivot, which he never did, but we learned together what we could do. That’s all. It’s like with the other boys, but it’s a real pleasure to work with him. That’s all.” It’s up to him to continue to return the favor, this will require a major performance against Spurs for the 7th day of the Premier League this Saturday evening (6:30 p.m.).
