Dominik Szoboszlai will wear the number 8 shirt at Liverpool.
The 22-year-old will become only the second Liverpool player, following Naby Keita, to wear that squad number since it was retired by club legend Steven Gerrard in 2015.
Szoboszlai, who joined Liverpool on Sunday for £60 million from RB Leipzig, was a fan of Gerrard when he was younger.
He even got a tattoo inspired by the legendary Liverpool captain.
In his first interview with Liverpool’s official website, Szoboszlai was asked: “You’ve picked the shirt number eight, obviously a well-known number at Liverpool. “What is the reason for that?”
He responded, “Not for any special reason, but it’s a great number; many great players have had this number.” I also have a tattoo from Steven Gerrard, which he stated – I can’t remember when, but it was before. “There was also a reason why.”
In regards to Gerrard, he said: “When I was a child, to be honest I didn’t watch that much football but of course when it was Champions League or a big game, I was watching Liverpool, the big teams and also the big players – and he was one of the biggest.”
The tattoo in question is supposed to depict a phrase formerly attributed to Gerrard, which was translated from English and inscribed onto Szoboszlai’s body in Hungarian.
According to Index.hu, Gerrard’s remarks that inspired Szoboszlai’s tattoo were: “Talent is a blessing from God, but without incredible will and humility, it is worthless.”
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Because of his exploits as the team’s captain, particularly in Istanbul, Gerrard is viewed as a role model by many of Liverpool’s recent additions.
And because the well-known midfielder so inspired Szoboszlai, he had a tattoo of his own saying, “Talent is a divine blessing, but without incredible will and humility, it is worth nothing.”
The 22-year-old was asked by LFCTV about his thoughts on wearing the No. 8 jersey when he first arrived at Anfield.
Because of his exploits as the team’s captain, particularly in Istanbul, Gerrard is viewed as a role model by many of Liverpool’s recent additions.
And because the well-known midfielder so inspired Szoboszlai, he had a tattoo of his own saying, “Talent is a divine blessing, but without incredible will and humility, it is worth nothing.”
The 22-year-old was asked by LFCTV about his thoughts on wearing the No. 8 jersey when he first arrived at Anfield.
And I answered, “Not [for] a special reason, but of course it’s a great number,” and he said, “Oh, I see.”
Several great athletes have worn this jersey number.
In addition, I have a tattoo of Steven Gerrard’s nаme. What he said… I can’t place it in time, but it was before… which was another reason why.
Previous to Gerrard, Emile Heskey wore the No. 8 jersey, as did Oyvind Leonhardsen, Stan Collymore, Jamie Redknapp, and Paul Stewart during the Premier League period.
It appears that the current day’s famous 43-year-old was a major inspiration for Szoboszlai to develop this.
