Liverpool signing Dominik Szoboszlai will wear the number eight shirt following his £60m arrival at the club from RB Leipzig.
The Reds have made Szoboszlai their second signing of the summer after triggering the release clause in his contract. With personal terms already agreed and the Hungarian keen to make the switch to Anfield, he put pen to paper on his new contract in England.
The 22-year-old will give Jurgen Klopp several options, capable of operating on either flank or as a ‘number 10’. But the digit he will wear on his back is one made famous by Steven Gerrard. Ironically, he shares some other shirt number history with Gerrard, having worn 17 at Leipzig – the ex-Liverpool captain had that jersey at Anfield for four years from 2000.
Liverpool fans will hope Szoboszlai will do the iconic number eight, worn by Gerrard for 11 seasons from 2004 until 2015, more proud than previous wearer Naby Keita. The Guinea international also arrived at Anfield from RB Leipzig in a big money transfer, only to see his five years at the club defined by frustrating injuries that limited his opportunities to play.
Other Liverpool number eights in the Premier League era include Emile Heskey, Stan Collymore, Oyvind Leonhardsen and Jamie Redknapp.
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Szoboszlai has already highlighted his eagerness to play at Anfield following a previous visit as an away player with former club Red Bull Salzburg in 2019, a game in which Erling Haaland, Takumi Minamino and Hwang Hee-chan all scored for the Austrian club in a 4-3 defeat.
“This time made me feel bad because we lost 4-3! But of course, I’ve said it before, I’ve almost never been nervous before the game, I think this was the first time in my life,” Szoboszlai told club media.
“Of course the stadium, the fans were unbelievable even [though] they were against us [Salzburg]. And we will see how it is when they are with me.
“I heard that it [Anfield] is going to be bigger. Of course counting the days back because it’s a really proud time to get on the pitch in Anfield as a player for Liverpool.”
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On this week’s edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth, Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss Mason Mount’s impending move to Man Utd, Arsenal’s various deals, Liverpool’s pursuit of Dominik Szoboszlai and more!
If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
