Dominik Szoboszlai was already Hungary’s most expensive footballer, two years before his move to Liverpool.
A €20m signing for RB Leipzig in January 2021, the 22-year-old’s £60m swoop to Anfield has seen him break his own record. He is without a doubt the most high-profile player the 9.71m populated nation has produced since the legendary three-time European Cup winner Ferenc Puskas.
The playmaker will become the third Hungarian to play competitively for Liverpool, following in the footsteps of Istvan Kozma and Adam Bogdan. But with former West Bromwich Albion and Fulham midfielder Zoltan Gera arguably still his country’s most successful export in Premier League history, his homeland, despite boasting one of the all-time greats in Puskas, have ultimately struggled to break onto that elite stage.
With Szoboszlai, that is all about to change. And the nation of Hungary couldn’t be prouder, with Bogdan, Liverpool’s last Hungarian player, convinced the move will be a success for both parties.
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“I was very, very proud. It’s something that we, Hungarians, haven’t had,” the goalkeeper, who is an international team-mate of Szoboszlai, told the ECHO in an exclusive interview following the big-money transfer. “Everybody around us has star players who are playing at top, top teams in Europe.
“Leipzig are a fantastic team, a Champions League team and it’s fantastic to play there, but they are not one of the traditionally big teams in Europe.
“Finally, not just we have someone there, but we have the guy who has the fourth-highest transfer fee paid for him, and he gets the number eight shirt. That’s huge for Hungary and huge for anybody that loves Hungarian football and the Premier League.
“Liverpool has a huge following in Hungary. The Premier League has a huge following in Hungary. To have a player in the Premier League itself is fantastic but to have a player, who is the captain of the national team, going into not only one of the biggest teams in England but one of the biggest in the world, they are so excited. So, so excited.
“And I think they should be because a lot of boxes are ticked for this to be a good fit, a good marriage. For me personally, I was super excited when I heard, really proud and happy for everybody involved really.
He continued: “Some people are a bit worried, just because they’re afraid that it’s a bigger step than they might have expected. It’s a lot of money, also bigger than maybe expected.
“But at the same time, for me or anybody following football more professionally, I think it’s definitely the right step and it’s no surprise. We know this was a well-thought through process. He’s had a well-managed, well built-up career path that he’s on at the moment.
“He has followed a similar path to Haaland, from Salzburg to a top Bundesliga club in Leipzig, where he played in the Champions League and he won the German Cup. And now he has also arrived at a top, top team in England. It’s the right choice.”
Costing Liverpool £60m, only new team-mates Virgil van Dijk, Alisson Becker, and Darwin Nunez stand ahead of Szoboszlai in the Reds’ list of record transfers. And for the people of Hungary, such a fee is confirmation that their talisman, who they have always rated so highly, is destined for the top.
“It’s unbelievable to be honest, for a Hungarian player to be bought for that much,” Bogdan said. “We never thought it was possible, but something is not possible until you see it being done. It’s incredible.
“We always knew Dominik was a brilliant talent. You see him in the Champions League, I see him in training, and I see him with the national team.
“But once somebody pays this kind of money, then you realise. ‘F**king hell, we thought he was a good one but this is a world class transfer fee.’ You pay this kind of money for top, top, top, top, top, top players in Europe. The elite.
“A club pays that much for him, they will think he is up there with some of their best players. Maybe for different reasons, for different abilities.
“The price-tag, it’s not just that somebody comes up for £60m and you suddenly think, ‘Phwoar, he must be a good player! Let’s buy him.’ It was a well thought-out process, they’ve been watching him for years, and I’m sure they have a position in mind for him.
“But in terms of quality, if we talk about shooting quality, passing quality, and his understanding of the game, he’s definitely up there with some of Liverpool’s best players under Klopp.”
Bogdan is well-placed to know what he’s talking about when it comes to Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool. The Hungarian was part of the squad the German inherited when taking over as manager in October 2015, after all.
And while he would be limited to six appearances before being sent out on loan, he still worked alongside the likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Philippe Coutinho. And he has no doubts that Szoboszlai can make the step up at Anfield.
“I think he can handle the pressure. I think he was born for this to be honest with you,” the 36-year-old said. “He has always been this top player, at U17s level, U19s level, U21s level, but he also worked for it a lot.
“From speaking to him and being around him, this is where he wants to belong, and this is what he wants, to be the main guy, but he’s ready to work for it as well.
“You can’t always expect everybody to come in and do it perfectly, but I think this price-tag earns him a little bit of patience from the manager and the fans hopefully as well. If it was to be a little bit of a slower start for Szoboszlai, don’t worry.
“He has a German coach at Liverpool, everybody knows Jurgen Klopp, and Szoboszlai understands the German way of thinking, and his way of thinking about football. How he wants to counter-press.
“He’s tactically learnt a lot, physically became a man, and I’m sure that they all know this at Liverpool otherwise they wouldn’t have paid this amount of money.
“It’s a long contract, Liverpool are in it for the long run. Even if he had a slower start, I’m sure he would come through it because he’s a fighter and will show his talent for sure.
“It depends on the team you come into too. Liverpool struggled a little bit last season, particularly in the first half of the season. Sometimes when you’re a new signing, if the team itself has some trouble, maybe it will affect you.
“But hopefully with the new signings, the motivation and quality they still have at Liverpool, they can have a much better start and it will be easier for Dominik to settle into it, in comparison to Nunez last year.”
Szoboszlai is famously a very versatile player, capable of playing as a number eight, a number ten, or out wide. Bogdan has seen more of his compatriot in a wide position cutting inside, but is confident that Szoboszlai is well-suited to a traditional midfield role under Klopp.
And after a quick discussion regarding Liverpool’s new formation, featuring Trent Alexander-Arnold as a number six as part of a box midfield, his former club’s signing of his compatriot makes even more sense to the goalkeeper.
“It’s hard to say (his best position). Certainly, he’s an attacking option,” he said. “I can see him playing in a number eight position.
“But a little wider, checks in, shoots from distance or pick a pass for a striker, a through-ball. That is maybe where I have seen him played the most. I know for sure that he wouldn’t shy away from a number 10 position as well. He has the feet and he has the mind for it.
“But I’ve seen him more in that wider position, in a 4-2-3-1 formation where he’s maybe on the left of those three behind the striker. In a 4-3-3, he could be the one on the left or in the midfield as well depending on the tactics really.
“I’m sure that he can solve these kind of problems that will also depend on what position he is needed and what position Liverpool think he is doing the best. There are some good coaches to decide on his position!
“Then there’s that new formation they played, with Trent going into midfield. That’s a good point too. It worked out brilliantly for Trent, and from the traditional 4-3-3, you have the eights become like number tens.
“That makes sense, wow. That makes huge sense. We talk about if a player is a number eight or a number ten, but in that formation it’s like the role in between. The roles are changing in defending and attacking.
“He’s very comfortable playing as a number eight, wider a little, and also as a number ten. Yeah, that hybrid role could have cracked it!”
Since links with Szoboszlai first emerged last week, Liverpool fans have inevitably been taking in every highlight reel going when it comes to their latest summer signing. Unsurprisingly they have been left salivating at the sight of every breath-taking long-range goal as a result.
And while the Hungarian’s shooting style is unique, and admittedly very hard to keep out concedes a goalkeeper who has been on the receiving end of a Szoboszlai stunner on more than one occasion in training, Bogdan reveals there is plenty more to the 22-year-old’s game when telling his former club’s fans what they can expect.
“Facing the shots is not easy!” Bogdan admits. “It has speed, dip, and accuracy. All those three combined, it’s really hard to save.
“He trusts himself and has that whip on him. You can’t teach it and you don’t see it often, especially in Hungary. Anybody who sees him live, the way he touches the ball and the way he pings the ball, it will be a joy to watch for sure.
“Liverpool have just added another option, a great option for free-kicks, with him. But it’s more than that, it’s crossing, it’s diagonal balls, it’s shots from outside the box, but he also has great vision.
“He’s a fantastic footballer who can pick out the passes, the key passes, as well. He’s only 22 but he has recently been promoted to be the captain of the national team, so he’s a leader. It’s a huge honour and a big, big, big thing on his shoulders.
“Recently we’re having like 65,000 people at games. People in Hungary really love football and they go to the games. It’s a big thing, he took over from Adam Szalai. He’s seen how he did the job, in a very strong way, and I think he learned a lot from Adam. But he is just the same, a huge character.
“So I think the responsibility suits him and the big team suits him as well. He has this persona, aura about him that he was basically born to do this. He’s one of the top talents of European football for sure, and always has been.”
He continued: “He fits right into what Liverpool has in terms of quality. You can expect a fantastic talent. He’s probably the biggest talent that Hungarian football has produced recently.
“But not just a talent, also work ethic, somebody who is ready to work and ready to give his best, give his all. The amount of sprints he makes during a game, they’re pretty good stats in the Bundesliga!
“It’s pretty obvious what he’s good at. The long-range shooting, the diagonals, the intelligence and tactical awareness, and the hunger he has to be an absolute star in world football.
“The leadership he has and the belief he has in himself. The fact that he really wanted to go to Liverpool shows that. He is very competitive, he is a huge talent.
“He’s a young lad so he likes joking around. He likes his passions. He’s somebody who is well-known and likes this attention, I think, but he’s a super hard worker. A top, top professional.
“He has the combination of somebody who is naturally gifted, has a fantastic right foot, and somebody who is ready to work hard as well. Fingers crossed it works out in a way that it’s supposed to work out, but for now, he has certainly ticked many boxes.”
So what’s it like being on the receiving end of a Szoboszlai shot? Bogdan admits when his compatriot gets it right, he is unstoppable. And in particular a threat from free-kicks, it would seem Trent Alexander-Arnold will have competition taking dead balls this season from a man the former Liverpool goalkeeper nearly always expects to score.
“He’s been compared to Beckham. He’s been compared to Bruno Fernandes, though he hasn’t been scoring that many goals, from long-range anyway,” he said. “There are similarities to Coutinho, with the dip and the curl.
“It is a slightly different technique as Dominik hits it, the ball stops in the air, it dips, it crashes, and it’s accurate. But it doesn’t move a lot, the ball, it’s not like Juninho (Pernambucano). He’d send the ball moving all over the place, but it’s something similar.
“Though I’m not sure if Dominik and the Hungary players will remember him at all. It’s something like this, like Juninho. I’m not sure who shoots like this now, there aren’t many, that’s for sure.
“I didn’t play against Beckham but he carries the same confidence and expectation when he strikes the ball from distance. It’s like when Beckham scored that famous free-kick against Greece. In the stands, in the dugout, you have an almost certainty that it will go in.
“That is the feeling that I have with Dominik. It’s more likely that it’s going to go in than it won’t. With some players, you don’t have that, you almost don’t expect it to go in. But with him, it’s just like it was with Beckham. You expect it to go in.
“His technique isn’t the same, as Beckham bends it, but the confidence from the crowd is very similar. You expect it to be a goal. You have Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is fantastic at free-kicks but it’s a little bit different type of free-kicks.
“Szoboszlai, it’s a dip, a dipping, whipping style of hitting it, so sweetly. If you are in the stadium, once he hits the ball you will hear the sound of the ball. It’s just perfect.
“Then the strike becomes the fastest when it starts diving down on the goal. Even if the goalie gets a touch, it’s really hard to save it because that’s when the biggest force is on the ball, when it starts landing. It goes higher then it lands.
“He’s fantastically accurate and the speed of the ball is crazy. If he gets it right, which he does most of the time, then he’s unstoppable really.”
Szoboszlai has an extra motivation to succeed this season - next summer’s European Championships in Germany. The playmaker was forced to miss Euro 2020 because of injury two years ago, with Hungary exiting at the group-stages despite admirable draws with both Germany and France in the group of death.
Now Hungary captain, the 22-year-old will be hoping to lead his country, who currently top their qualifying group, to next year’s finals, and then the knock-out stages.
Bogdan was part of the Hungary squad for Euro 2020, and is confident Szoboszlai’s injury heartache in 2021, in the immediate months after joining RB Leipzig, actually made the playmaker stronger and helped set him on the road to Liverpool.
“I think as much as it was a sour experience that he missed that tournament, it didn’t hurt him because he just got in a lot of rehab to strengthen,” he said. “I think he understood at a young age how important it was, to do the strengths and conditioning. Pre-training routines, core strength, and everything you need to cope with the intensity of these games.
“Even though it was the saddest moment in his life to miss it, he reacted fantastically well and has got stronger for sure, you can see he’s physically stronger if you compare him to two years ago.
“He gained an amazing amount of motivation for that to not happen again. To be able to compete in the European Championships again, be the leader in the group, and maybe have a better chance to progress from the group. He bounced back and reacted fantastically well.”
Bogdan has briefly spoken to Szoboszlai since it became clear he was Liverpool-bound, though is waiting for a more in-depth conversation about his own Anfield experience, suggesting former Reds academy graduate and RB Leipzig and Hungary goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi will have instead been more useful to the 22-year-old.
And while he’s stopped short of suggesting his international team-mate can usurp Puskas as Hungary’s greatest player, he believes in Liverpool, Szboszlai is at the right club to at least push him close as the Reds, having won every prize there is to win under Klopp, chase down Premier League and Champions League glory once again.
“Yeah, I spoke to him briefly. We exchanged texts, nothing special,” he said. “Peter Gulacsi was at Liverpool for a long time and was his team-mate, at Leipzig and with the national team. I’m sure they will have talked about it and talked it through.
“If I was Liverpool, I’d have maybe asked Peter about him too, because he’s his team-mate. Of course, I’ve trained with him and been in the same squad with him in the national team. He scores a lot of goals in training in national camps!
“The way that clubs do transfers, especially of this magnitude involving this money, I’m sure that they do their research thoroughly.
“Once everything settles down, then I’ll probably have a good conversation with him about the experience (at Liverpool) but, for now, I’m staying away a little bit because I’m sure he has a lot on his plate at the moment.
“We will have to wait and see (if he can replicate Puskas). Puskas, he won the Champions League three times. He was in the World Cup final and was one of the best players in the world.
“Szoboszlai is not there yet, but he’s certainly at the right club to reach those incredible heights. There is a platform to reach the Champions League again.
“Liverpool have won it already, along with the Premier League, and will have aspirations to win both again. Dominik can help them do it and I think he believes in that as well, that he can do it.”
