Certain squad numbers can hang heavy on players’ shoulders at football clubs. When a particular jersey has been worn with distinction by someone for years, it leaves a tall order for their successors to do it justice.
In Liverpool’s case, the number 8 shirt ultimately proved too big a burden for Naby Keita, the first player to wear it after Steven Gerrard’s departure in 2015. The Guinean showed flashes of quality in his time at Anfield but a horrendous injury record prevented him from getting anywhere close to matching the impact of our iconic former captain.
When the Guinean left at the end of his contract earlier this year, it left the squad number vacant for Dominik Szoboszlai to fill, and the £60m signing from RB Leipzig already looks at home in the shirt which for more than a decade was adorned with distinction by the lad from Huyton.
The Hungarian has been an irrepressible ball of energy, an intelligent reader of the game in midfield and, as we saw against Aston Villa, a damn good striker of a football when a goal chance presents itself.
He’s already giving Liverpool an instant return on their outlay – a bit like fast payout casinos, as explained here. There’s been no need for a gradual settling-in period for the 22-year-old at Anfield.
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You only need to look at the statistics from WhoScored to get a handle on how quickly Szoboszlai has made himself an integral figure in Jurgen Klopp’s side. Just five games into the season, he’s one of just two outfield players to have played in every minute for the Reds.
His average of 1.4 tackles per match is the fourth-highest in the squad, while he ranks third for shots per game (two) and joint-third for key passes per game (1.6).
Meanwhile, nobody at Liverpool has completed more dribbles (1.4) or won more free kicks (1.6) per match, with the Hungarian proving a nightmare for opponents to contain.
In an exclusive column with EOTK Insider, Neil Jones perhaps best summed up the enormous impact Szoboszlai has made at Anfield. Just five games into the 22-year-old’s Reds career, he already ‘looks like someone who is destined for the leadership group’, in the journalist’s words.
Could the ex-Leipzig playmaker be a future captain of LFC, just like Gerrard had been for nearly 12 years? He already wears the armband for his country and has plenty of high-level experience for someone of his age, so don’t be surprised if he’s eventually chosen as Virgil van Dijk’s successor to wear the armband full-time on Merseyside.
#Ep91 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones🎙️