From Liefering To Liverpool – Dominik Szoboszlai: The Story So Far | OneFootball

Signed in the blink of an eye as the Reds appeared to have admiring glances elsewhere, Dominik Szoboszlai has already endeared himself to the Anfield faithful with his words on the famous L4 crowd, Jurgen Klopp and Steven Gerrard.

Despite not yet kicking a ball in anger for Liverpool, the excitement is already tantamount as supporters everywhere eagerly await a look at their new number eight.

Before all of that and ahead of the meeting with Bundesliga.2 side Karlsruher, let’s take a look at the Hungarian’s path that has led him to this point and potential Liverpool stardom…

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Born in the central Hungarian city of Székesfehérvár, Szoboszlai’s father Zsolt was himself a professional footballer having made his name in their homeland and lower leagues of the Austrian Bundesliga.

In 2007, Zsolt was released from Videoton with his son also on the books, he co-founded his own academy Fonix Gold and as such, Dominik’s childhood was one dominated by the beautiful game.

Honing his natural talent under the tutelage of his father and coaches, Dominik’s age group won the Cordial Cup both in 2011 and 2013. Overcoming more familiar-sounding opponents Bayern Munich, Norwich City, FC Basel and Red Bull Salzburg to lift the prestigious trophy.

Having spent time at MTK Budapest following trials in Italy and the Netherlands, Szoboszlai was spotted by Red Bull Salzburg and soon snapped up by the Austrian outfit once he had turned 16.

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It was from this moment the attacking midfielder began to make his way, joining FC Liefering after a brief spell with the Salzburg Under 18s, Szoboszlaimade his professional debut in the 2017/18 campaign against Kapfenberg – proving to be an instant hit as the teenage sensation made the assist for the winner in a 2-1 victory.

From there the technically gifted starlet never looked back, scoring 16 times and providing 11 assists in 46 outings for the club, all whilst continuing to represent the Hungary youth sides with distinction.

As described to us by former boss Gerhard Struber and Fabio Ingolitsch, the 6’1 versatile gem is ‘football obsessed’ and would often do extra work in training on his set pieces, simply perfecting his craft.

Taken back to Salzburg from the feeder club, Szoboszlai made his bow for the Austrian giants in May 2018 and his international debut came less than a year later aged just 18 years 04 months 24 days.

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If the 18/19 season was a precursor of what was to come, then 19/20 was as close to the main event as it comes for someone so young as the Hungarian defied his years with a stunning 12 goals and 18 assists in 40 appearances across all competitions – including a hat-trick in a 5-1 demolition of Sturm Graz.

It was that season – the one the Reds ended a 30-year wait for domestic glory – that Szoboszlai got his first taste of Anfield, and he liked it. Despite coming out on the wrong end of a 4-3 thriller, the attacking midfielder shone, putting his ‘nerves’ to one side for the occasion.

Voted player of the season for 2019–20 in Austrian football’s top tier as Salzburg completed a second of what was to be a hat-trick of domestic titles with Szoboszlai at the centre, it was already becoming obvious a transfer would follow.

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As expected it was fellow Red Bull club, Leipzig who won out as they made the star the most expensive Hungarian in history with a reported €20million switch to Germany.

Unsurprisingly undeterred by the price tag, accolades, goals, assists, admirers and trophies continued to follow…

Never one to shy away, Szoboszlai scored twice in the DFB Pokal Cup semi-final win over SC Freiburg before also netting in the final success against Eintracht Frankfurt.

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On the international stage things were blossoming also, having stood out for his nation through the age groups, he scored a sensational solo last-minute winner to send Hungary into Euro 2020 at the expense of Iceland.

Cruelly ruled out of the tournament through injury. Szoboszlai was named captain of the European nation in November 2022 having been chosen for the role by coach Marco Rossi and his national teammates.

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Seemingly on the way to St James’ Park to complete a switch to Newcastle United, once Liverpool’s serious interest became known there was only ever one destination for Dom and Liverpool fans can allow themselves to get excited by the prospect of watching a player ex-Red and compatriot Adam Bogan said was‘born to a star’ in action.

20 goals and 22 assists from 90 outings, the Anfield hierarchy can expect to get much of their €60million fee back in entertainment value alone…