It is now a matter of when, not if, Dominik Szoboszlai becomes Liverpool's second summer signing as Jurgen Klopp continues to rejuvenate his squad ahead of the 2023/2024 season.
Hungary captain Szoboszlai is currently on Merseyside, completing formalities ahead of his switch to Anfield from RB Leipzig. On Friday, the Reds told the Bundesliga outfit that they will trigger the midfielders' £60m release clause just hours before it was due to expire.
Despite paying such a significant fee, it can certainly be argued that Liverpool will receive their money's worth from the 22-year-old. Across the 2022/2023 Bundesliga campaign, Szoboszlai was involved in 163 open-play shot-ending sequences, broken down into 49 shots, 48 chances created, and 66 actions in the build-up.
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Only former Liverpool target Jude Bellingham and Bayern Munich duo Jamal Musiala and Joshua Kimmich could claim to excel further than Szoboszlai in such a department. Playing with a better quality of attacker is likely to see an increase in his six league goals and eight assists from last season, too.
While it's an unlikely scenario, if Klopp was unsure how to get the best out of Szoboszlai, he can look to advice from a former mentor of his soon-to-be new signing.
Former Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber first encountered Szoboszlai during his time with the Red Bull Salzburg academy, where he also helped develop the talents of former Liverpool men Naby Keita and Takumi Minamino.
But it is clear that Struber, who left his role as New York Red Bulls head coach in May, was left particularly impressed by Szoboszlai.
He told Redmen TV: “I have many many big talents next to me like Keita, Minamino, Patson Daka - so many players who play for Leipzig in the German Bundesliga and then make the jump to the Premier League.
"I had so many top talents next to me but I can say Dominik Szoboszlai was always a player who surprised us.
“We saw the potential in him at this time and also what I see and I never forget is that sometimes the team would have an off day and he was always on the field. He would train on days off. I was in my office, I can see him outside and he would make some special corner kicks, free kicks with the balls on the field.
“I think next to a top talent what he is, I can see also a high ambition and in this direction, two things come together – very high work ethic plus a super talent."
How do you channel that work ethic and talent into productive on-field performances, then? "I think sometimes a match plan was not helpful - he needs freedom, he needs space for himself to create his special direction," Struber added.
"He did a great job in the last few years and this step could be the next trampoline for Liverpool."
