Liverpool can sign their own Kevin de Bruyne via £25m transfer of star with Jürgen Klopp
dream
The journey from Red Bull to Liverpool is a well-trodden path: almost as common as the
route between Southampton and Liverpool, if not more.
In the last few years, Liverpool have acquired a multitude of players who were made or discovered
by either RB Leipzig or Red Bull Salzburg, from Sadio Mané in 2016 to Naby Keïta arriving
at Anfield in 2018 and then Takumi Minamino in 2020.
The two-year pattern was broken by Ibrahima Konaté who joined Liverpool in 2021 — an
anomaly in more than one sense considering he was the only one out of the quartet who
never featured for Salzburg and only RB Leipzig.
This summer, however, Liverpool could return to the familiar pattern and sign another Salzburg
product in order to bolster Jürgen Klopp's squad in an area where Liverpool could still
add further depth to their ranks.
The midfield might be an area where Liverpool seem well stocked on paper, but with James
Milner yet to sign a contract extension, the future of Curtis Jones and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
both moot and Naby Keïta set to enter the last year of his current deal, even the addition
of Fábio Carvalho might not be enough to maintain the balance in the squad this summer.
Considering the age of Liverpool's core midfielders (all above 30 with the exception of Fabinho)
the club's recruitment staff will also want to rejuvenate the team with younger players
in order to build for the future.
The ECHO have reported that Liverpool are not planning on making a midfield addition
this summer unless the right opportunity arises, and that might just be the case with one RB
Leipzig midfielder who could be the perfect profile and ideal addition to bolster Liverpool.
According to RB Live, RB Leipzig would be open to listening to offers for Dominik Szoboszlai
this summer who has enjoyed a fruitful campaign in his debut season scoring 10 goals and registering
eight assists for the club averaging 0.81 goal contributions per 90 in 42 appearances.
A technical and energetic midfielder, Szoboszlai would be well-suited to Klopp's gegenpress
style at Anfield with the midfielder ranking in the 98th percentile for successful pressures
per 90 (6.76) among his positional peers as FBref this season.
At the same time, Szoboszlai could offer Liverpool a new dimension from midfield with his ability
to score goals and create opportunities in the final third — something that is lacking
among Liverpool's current options.
This season he ranks in the 90th percentile for key passes and the 88th percentile expected
assists and shot-creating actions per 90, and some have even likened him to Kevin de
Bruyne, including a CIES Football Observatory study.
In the past, Szoboszlai has already made his thoughts clear about what he may think of
a potential move describing on the Csisztu Youtube Channel, which manager he would like
to work with in the future.
"I really like Klopp," he said.
"The kind of human being he is.
The way he can inspire his players is unbelievable.
Even when they have nothing, his players can achieve anything.
For me, he is the best manager."
With the midfielder valued at £25.2m by Transfermarkt, FSG might be tempted to make that dream become
a reality this summer if RB Leipzig are indeed willing to sell.