Szoboszlai becomes a Red

LIVERPOOL confirmed the signing of Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig yesterday after paying the Hungarian’s €70-million (about R1.4-billion) release clause.

The 22-year-old will further bolster the Reds’ midfield options after the arrival of Argentine World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister last month.

“The last three or four days went really long; it was not that easy. But at the end I’m here, I’m happy and I can’t wait to get started,” Szoboszlai told Liverpool’s website.

“A really historic club, really good players, good coach, everything is good. For me it was perfect to make the next step in a club like this. The fans, the stadium, everything is really good.”

Liverpool were in the market to refresh their midfield after a fifth-place finish in the Premier League last season saw them miss out on Champions League qualification for the first time in seven years.

Midfielders James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Naby Keita all left the club when their contracts expired at the end of last season.

Szoboszlai will inherit the No 8 jersey vacated by Keita to follow in the footsteps of one of his childhood heroes Steven Gerrard.

“I have a tattoo from Steven Gerrard,” he said. “When I was a child, to be honest I didn’t watch that much football, but when it was Champions League, I watched and he was one of the biggest.”

Szoboszlai scored 20 goals and provided 22 assists in 91 games for Leipzig since joining in January 2021 as he helped them win the German Cup and finish in the top four of the Bundesliga for the past two seasons.

“It has been an intense and above all successful few years at RB Leipzig,” Szoboszlai said in a Leipzig statement.

“I have met lots of people … who have really helped me in my development. I matured in Leipzig and have been able to learn a lot, so I have a lot to thank the club for.”

Szoboszlai is the second Leipzig star to make a bigmoney move to the Premier League in recent weeks following Christopher Nkunku’s arrival at Chelsea.