Dominik Szoboszlai’s first seven days as a Liverpool player have undoubtedly dispelled any uncertainty for the £60 million signing if he had any about the size of the team he was joining last week.
The phone call informing the Hungary national team captain that the Reds will in reality be honoring the release clause in his RB Leipzig contract came on last Friday, June 30.
That followed Jurgen Klopp’s original video contact interrupting the midfielder’s vacation to express his desire to bring him to Anfield. The conversation was all Szoboszlai needed to come on board because it was such an important aspect of the whole deal and he was so eager to play for the Reds manager.
The two were believed to have discussed the Anfield atmosphere, plans for how he will be utilized in a new-look midfield, and the unity of a dressing room that has maintained its core despite a glitzy period in recent years.
Szoboszlai stated of him and his new manager, “We spoke as if we had known each other for a thousand years.” In addition to being among the top instructors in the world, he is also incredibly impressive on a personal level.
Positive negotiations with the player’s EM Sports agency had occurred earlier in the week, but things really got moving on Friday night when the Bundesliga club received official notice that the £60 million clause would be activated.
The 22-year-old, who officially became the fourth most expensive signing of all time at Anfield last Sunday behind Virgil van Dijk (£75 million), Alisson Becker (£65 million), and Darwin Nunez (£64 million, original), had a busy week as a result.
Szoboszlai was on a private plane that touched down at Liverpool’s John Lennon airport on Saturday afternoon together with his seasoned agent Matyas Esterhazy and his father, Zsolt. He was then driven 20 minutes south on the highway to the club’s AXA Training Center, which is located 14 miles north of the airport.
He repeatedly played You’ll Never Walk Alone on the plane to Merseyside in an effort to immediately become familiar with the club’s ethos. “I listened to it several times,” he admitted. “I liked it before, and needless to say, I like it even more now.”
While club media recorded the Hungarian’s initial thoughts of the £50 million facility, he was given a guided tour of his new job. The new No. 8 remarked, “Good weather, huh?” “It’s always windy here,” was the reply.
His camp was really pleased with the club’s handling of the situation during a hectic few days for everyone. Esterhazy stated, “We were in touch with a lot of clubs, with whom communication was closer, more frequent, others more easygoing. “On Monday, we had our first real serious meeting with Liverpool. Naturally, a lot of water then went down the Danube, but on Friday afternoon, we entered the final stretch.
On Saturday, he had a standard medical that went off without a hitch. After that, he was driven back to the city’s center to check into the hotel room that would serve as his temporary residence for the next several days. After receiving a private message of congratulations from a former teammate, Erling Haaland, the topic finally turned to the finest regions in the north west for a Premier League football player to buy a home.
Szoboszlai’s temporary residence is a hotel, and the club instructed the attacking midfielder not to leave the hotel for the ensuing days. As a result, plans for a celebratory dinner with his father and agent were shelved in favor of a room service burger.
The new £60 million acquisition returned to the Kirkby campus on Sunday to officially sign his five-year deal before having a conversation with the club’s internal media. Perhaps most importantly, Szoboszlai included a video explanation of how to pronounce his last name. This was especially helpful for people with a particularly strong Scouse accent. For those who don’t know, it’s “Sob-boss-lie.”
The player’s side viewed the decision to let him wear the No. 8 jersey made famous by Steven Gerrard as a significant expression of respect. “The past three or four days have been quite long; they have not been simple. But in the end, I’m here, I’m content, and I’m eager to get going,” he remarked. “My phone is out of control!” Klopp continued, “This is a signing for our present and also for our future, and the work that has gone into it could not be more appreciated.”
Then, Szoboszlai was driven to Anfield for the first time since being a member of a Red Bull Salzburg club that lost 4-3 to Jurgen Klopp’s team in a Champions League group match as a teenager back in October 2019.
As luck would have it, the journey provided guests enjoying the Sunday afternoon Anfield tour with a unique memento of their day when they had the chance to meet the new guy. Szoboszlai was delighted to pose for photographs beside a few fans who were probably unable to believe their good fortune.
Szoboszlai took to the skies once more with his agent and father as he prepared to return to Leipzig to say his goodbyes to his old coworkers on Monday after some light training and a tour of the property sites. “That’s football,” he remarked, “but without them I wouldn’t have gotten this far, I couldn’t call myself a Liverpool player now.”
The captain of the national team is undoubtedly a source of pride for people around the eastern European country because the £60 million transaction represents the largest transfer in Hungary’s history. In fact, Dr. Adam Schmidt, the sports minister, even wrote about the transfer on his Facebook page.
“The history book of Hungarian football is being written in front of our eyes, in which Dominik Szoboszlai has opened a chapter that we never dared to think of before,” he said in his essay. “The leader of our national football team is continuing his career at English Premier League club Liverpool.
He changed clubs for the most expensive player in Hungarian football history with a transfer fee of 70 million euros. Congratulations and know that you have my full support in making all of your ambitions a reality. I wish you much success and the best of luck in your future endeavors. The new 8 performance in Liverpool will be amazing to see!”
The debate was also joined by Hungary’s head coach, Marco Rossi, who said: “The fact that Liverpool were willing to pay a huge amount for him shows how much the acquisition of Dominik was worth to them, and while it is true that the financial part of his transfer is the least interesting aspect for the national team, it is telling.”
Szoboszlai spoke at length about his excitement to work with Klopp during a news conference held by his agency on Tuesday night while back in Budapest. He also explained why the fact that Liverpool won’t be playing in the Champions League this season had no bearing on his decision to join there. The 22-year-old proclaimed his intention to lead the Reds back to the top table of European football, comparing the opportunity to work with Klopp to winning “the jackpot” and describing it as such.
“I can accept that I won’t be able to play in [the Champions League] for a year, and the goal is to win the Europa League,” he stated. “Winning titles is my aim.”
According to Szoboszlai’s father, a former professional striker himself, “Liverpool wouldn’t have wanted to get him if he wasn’t ready.” Everyone is proud of their own child, of course, in their own way and in their own profession, but this is definitely a special time.
Szoboszlai will now stay in his own country until July 10 before returning to the AXA Centre on July 11 with the rest of his international teammates for preseason training. Although the past seven days have been extremely busy, a guy who will be entrusted with a major portion of the duty to revitalize the midfield this upcoming season has only just begun his Liverpool life.
Although we haven’t drunk champagne yet, Esterhazy declares, “I can say with certainty that we are proud of the journey we have so far taken.” “Now, though, is when the hard work really begins.”
