Five Dominik Szoboszlai moments before the Liverpool transfer: Klopp praise, Neymar response

Liverpool appear poised to finalize a transfer for Dominik Szoboszlai, and these are the career-defining moves of the Hungarian up until his move to Anfield.

Dominik Szoboszlai’s transfer is nearing completion for Liverpool and he promises to be an exciting one for fans around the world. It is yet another potential midfield addition that could usher in Jürgen Klopp’s new era at Anfield.

Although he is only 22 years old, the Hungarian has had to take many steps forward in his career. He has already made 40 caps for the country and was awarded the national team armband, so he has a lot of experience.

And he’s already achieved some very important moments in his career, including a plethora of world-class goals that make him an entertaining highlight on YouTube.

Liverpool.com has set out to compile his top five career highlights leading up to his anticipated move to Anfield, with a deal to be confirmed in the next 24 hours (according to The Athletic).

In the spring of 2017, even in Hungary, few had heard of Dominik Szoboszlai. He had just moved to Red Bull Salzburg and was only 16 years old.

But in Hungary’s elite qualifying round at the Under-17 European Championship, the boy with the captain’s armband made a name for himself.

He started by scoring twice with two identical free kicks against Russia, and then the icing on the cake came in Hungary’s final game against Norway.

Hungary needed a win to qualify. Szoboszlai competed against his future friend and teammate in Salzburg, Erling Haaland.

Fast forward to extra time as the final minutes wind down and the game is tied. Szoboszlai receives the ball just outside the edge of the penalty area and deflects it into the top corner in the closing seconds of the game.

Hungary had not qualified for an under-17 tournament since 2006. That goal caused quite a stir in the Hungarian media and saw him promoted to under-21 and even trained with the senior side aged just 16.

🇭🇺 Hungarians will remember this as the game that made Szoboszlai. Especially, @wonderkidshun!

It’s 2017 – Hungary need a goal to qualify for the U17 Euros for the first time since 2006.

Up against Erling Haaland’s Norway, it’s the last minute and Szoboszlai does this: pic.twitter.com/C8FLRwOLs0

— Bence Bocsák (@BenBocsak) July 1, 2023

Recognition of Klopp

A few years later, Dominik Szoboszlai moved up the ranks to Red Bull Salzburg to establish himself in the starting eleven. It’s 2019, Szoboszlai’s first ever season in the Champions League and he is faced with current champions Liverpool.

The experience made a big impression on Szoboszlai at the time, who played at a crowded Anfield in a spectacular 4-3 formation.

But he stood out even more in the second match in Salzburg, after which Klopp also noticed.
After that match, the Liverpool manager came forward to congratulate the Hungarian on his performance.

“If someone like Klopp comes up to you after the final whistle and says ‘great job’, it means you’re probably on the right track,” Szoboszlai later told Nemzeti Sport.

He becomes a hero and rewrite history

A year later, aged just 20, Szoboszlai became a leading figure in the Hungarian national team and also in Salzburg.

Returning from pandemic quarantine in renewed form, he has dominated matches for Salzburg at club level, while notching up some spectacular goals for Hungary in the Nations League, with his strike against Turkey being a case in point.  However, the biggest moment of his career came in the play-off against Iceland for a place at Euro 2020.

The match seemed to be heading for a stalemate, much like against Norway in 2017. But in the dying embers, Szoboszlai came to power. Waltzing through a maze of Iceland defenders, he fired a shot from around 20 yards out that landed perfectly in the corner of the net.

At 20, Szoboszlai has just scored a goal that makes him an instant hero in Hungary. A few months later he made the big move to RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga.

Overcoming Neymar’s provocations

In Leipzig, Szoboszlai had to rest briefly due to injury, but recovered under Jesse Marsch and became a major figure in the team.

One of the most defining moments of his Leipzig career was in the Champions League against Paris Saint-Germain in 2021.

Szoboszlai was an early second-half substitute in that game and when Leipzig conceded a 92nd-minute penalty while trailing 2-1 to PSG, he was the Hungarian who stepped up to kick the ball .

As the VAR check continued, Szoboszlai had to resist the taunts and mind games of Neymar, who approached him and cheekily asked if he would score.

Szoboszlai’s response came immediately. He put the ball past the imposing Gianluigi Donnarumma in the PSG goal and secured an important point for his side.

As you can see below, when recounting that experience, Szoboszlai reacted with some confidence to Neymar’s taunts.

Szoboszlai on what Neymar said to him before he took his penalty 😳 pic.twitter.com/YqGA5TwUAk

— LiveScore (@livescore) November 4, 2021

A goal in the DFB Cup

Szoboszlai’s crowning glory in Leipzig is the DFB Cup final at the start of the summer. He had already won the cup the previous season, but this time he played a much more crucial role.

The Hungarian scored twice in the semi-final and then scored the decisive goal in the final to lift the trophy against Eintracht Frankfurt. This was the first goal by a Hungarian in the German Cup final since Lajos Détári in the 1980s.

Szoboszlai is now a captain of the Hungarian senior team and is finishing the season strongly at club level, even scoring in a win against Bayern Munich. Szoboszlai has achieved a status few have in Hungarian football.

A move to Liverpool would make perfect sense at this stage of his career.