Liverpool are pressing ahead with a £60 million move for RB Leipzig's Dominik Szoboszlai.
Club officials held talks with the Hungary captain's representatives earlier this week as they held exploratory discussions around a potential deal for the attacking midfielder. And now that interest has been ramped up as the Reds try to secure a £60m deal.
After a disappointing campaign, Jurgen Klopp has been looking to revamp his midfield options, with a number of players targeted.
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World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister of Brighton was the first player signed, and following an outstanding Bundesliga season, Szoboszlai is expected to follow.
However, having been priced out of moves for the likes of Jude Bellingham and others in the past under the ownership of FSG, fans may feel puzzled as to why the Reds are now willing to part ways with £60 million to guarantee the 22-year-old's signature.
Nevertheless, a report by the International Centre for Sports Studies’ (CIES) Football Observatory goes a long way to explaining just why.
CIES list Szoboszlai among the 80 most valued football players globally, valuing him at a whopping €73.8 million, just over £63m. With Liverpool set to pay less than that, it can be argued that the Reds have themselves a bargain.
A quick glance at Szoboszlai's stats from the 2022/2023 campaign also demonstrates just why he is valued quite so highly by CIES.
Stats show that Szoboszlai was one of the Bundesliga's leading creators last season, with only some of Europe's best and most exciting talents ahead of him in the charts.
Across the 2022/2023 campaign, Szoboszlai was involved in 163 open-play shot-ending sequences. This was only bettered by star names such as Bellingham, Jamal Musiala and Joshua Kimmich.
