Liverpool have displayed no real teething issues transitioning into the brand new Arne Slot regime away from the old familiar ways of club legend Jurgen Klopp.
There is one loss next to their name from seven Premier League encounters, as Nottingham Forest stunned Anfield in a surprise 1-0 win for the away team back in September, but every other game has been a win as Slot’s well-oiled machine sit at the very top of the top-flight pile.
Liverpool’s last win in the league away at Crystal Palace even saw the Dutchman tinker with his line-up, despite his side’s faultless streak of victories, with Dominik Szobozslai dropped to the substitutes bench alongside Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez.
Szoboszlai has had a mixed time in the Reds first-team fold as of late, with top-drawer displays against the likes of Manchester United this season standing out, whilst a flat showing against a relegation-threatened Wolverhampton Wanderers outfit left a lot to be desired on the contrary.
Szoboszlai's season so far
The former RB Salzburg midfielder would impress in patches during this debut season in England, after making the move over from Austria to play for Jurgen Klopp’s Reds last summer.
Szoboszlai would pick up three goals and two assists from 33 Premier League games under the German’s guidance, with the new methods of Slot really working in his favour during the infancy of this campaign too.
Under the ex-Feyenoord manager, the 23-year-old has often been deployed in a more attacking role, with one goal and three assists coming his way from nine games so far.
But, unlike Ryan Gravenberch who continues to put in stellar displays week in week out in the middle of the park, the Hungarian midfielder’s form has dropped somewhat, leading to his exclusion from the main team against the Eagles.
Away at Molineux to close out September, Szoboszlai visibly struggled in his side’s narrow 2-1 win, with only 26 accurate passes registered and one shot tallied up before Curtis Jones was launched into the game in his place.
The Reds will be keeping their fingers crossed that the ex-Salzburg star can shine bright again as Slot’s men strive to pick up more league victories, with some regret on their end now that they didn’t persist more in a deal to snap up one outrageous talent around the same time the 23-year-old’s signature was won.
When Liverpool tried to sign Bellingham
In April last year, the Reds reportedly dropped out of the race to sign Jude Bellingham after Liverpool had held a long-standing interest in the England star’s services.
The £135m price tag that had been placed above the Borussia Dortmund man’s head was deemed too much to cough up on the Premier League side’s end, with Szoboszlai then acquired for a lesser £60m.
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Whilst Bellingham has experienced a slow start to this season donning a Real Madrid jersey, last season saw the 21-year-old become a man-possessed for the La Liga giants after his bumper switch from Germany, with a ridiculous 23 goals scored from midfield across 42 clashes.
Slot would love to have the superstar at his disposal in attacking midfield in the here and now, having bemoaned Szoboszlai’s low goalscoring numbers as one reason why he was dropped for the trip to Selhurst Park, with the exceptional talent also a hero in front of goal for his nation.
Bellingham would score an audacious overhead kick at the death during this summer’s Euro 2024 tournament to keep the Three Lions in the competition against Slovakia, with his top displays even helping Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions reach the final, only to then come unstuck versus Spain.
The former Birmingham City youth product turned world-class star would have been content with his trophy haul back at the Santiago Bernabeu anyway, lifting the La Liga trophy alongside the Champions League in his debut season, with his value – as per CIES Football Observatory’s player value tool – now up to a staggering £235m off the back of his heroics in Madrid.
Slot will just have to persist with Szoboszlai moving forward, away from any past blunders Liverpool have made in the transfer market, as the table-toppers pray that they can stay perched at the top of the Premier League pile for the foreseeable.
Liverpool wanted to sign £50m star for Klopp but ended up with Szoboszlai
Would he have been the better fit for Arne Slot’s side?
ByAngus Sinclair Oct 2, 2024
