Szoboszlai, Salah and Alexander-Arnold Could Be Unstoppable Right-Side for Liverpool

Dominik Szoboszlai can do it all

In a summer where midfielder prices are rising at often random rates, ever since Chelsea blew the market to pieces in January, for Liverpool to apparently tie down a second clause-based bargain (before preseason) without the shenanigans of price hike after price hike makes sense.

Dominik Szoboszlai, tall, fast, 22 and elite – a leader with a great attitude (a very young captain for his country) – fits the bill as a goalscoring no.8 who can attack and defend, create and score.

For versatility, few look better. Newcastle were keen on Szoboszlai, but Szoboszlai was keen on Liverpool.

(And without a buyback, Fabio Carvalho has gone to RBL for a year, which will serve him well if he gets enough minutes.)

Weirdly, my memory from being at the 4-3 win over RB Salzburg was how amazing Taki Minamino was (but maybe, in hindsight, never quick or strong enough for the Premier League), and some lanky sub called Erling Haaland.

I had no idea until today that Szoboszlai was in that team in October 2019 (one of the things about watching at the ground is that you don’t hear the names being noted), so I've already seen him play live; that he was only 18 would have been lost on me. (Everyone for Salzburg looked good that evening, which shows how smart recruitment and a set playing style can elevate players.)

He’s an all-round player: a tall, fast technician, clocked at over 35kmh, which is close to Darwin Núñez territory (even if I’m never 100% sure about in-game speeds).

In contrast to Minamino, who caught the eye four years ago, the Hungarian is a bigger, stronger, faster ball-playing finisher, and younger, too; at 22, Szoboszlai should go up an another level by the age of 24/25, and maybe again around 27/28. He has the personality and physicality that the shy and retiring Minamino lacked.

For our separate detailed player analysis Substack, Mizgan Masani has run the tactical rule over the player. I'll be giving my own insights below, more about how this type of player is just what the Reds need.

Scouting Report: Dominik Szoboszlai, Analysing The Hungarian Playmaker

As Mizgan notes:

"In his career so far, the Hungarian has started 59 games as a central midfielder, 37 as an attacking midfielder, 33 as a left-sided midfielder, 27 as a right winger, 26 as a left winger, 13 as a right-sided midfielder and once as a number nine."

There’s one key but rarely noted metric I noticed, and will discuss below, that I think Liverpool may be looking for in terms of attacking players, beyond the requisite high pressing rates.

And Dominik Szoboszlai is 99th percentile for it.