Jurgen Klopp is already without several key players, and Szoboszlai being ruled out just further added to the Liverpool boss’ injury problems.
However, it’s not all doom and gloom. The Hungarian’s muscle injury is not thought to be serious, and he could be back sooner rather than later.
Last night, Szoboszlai was back in his homeland to receive the Hungarian Male Sports Person of the Year award for 2023, and prior to the ceremony he spoke to journalists to give an update on his injury.
Szoboszlai injury update
Speaking to M4 Sport, Szoboszlai revealed that things did not go according to plan against Newcastle in his first game, but that he will be on the pitch very soon.
“I’m getting better. The first game of the year didn’t go as planned [for me], but it won’t take long and I’ll be back.”
That’s about as positive of an about as Liverpool fans could hope for. Having Szoboszlai back in the side will be a huge boost for Jurgen Klopp.
Fulham midweek might come too early, but based on Szoboszlai’s words it seems very possible that he could be in line to feature against Bournemouth in Liverpool’s next Premier League game.
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Captain and leader for Hungary, the 23-year-old led them through a tricky qualifying campaign and into Euro 2024. Those efforts – and his performances at RB Leipzig and Liverpool – saw him crowned as the Hungarian Sportsman of the Year.
Szoboszlai took to Instagram after being presented the award to thank all those associated with it.
“Such an honor to win this special award. Thank you!” wrote the midfielder, who also picked up the gong in 2020.
Ever supportive of each other, his Liverpool colleagues couldn’t pass up the chance to congratulate their mate either. Gravenberch was straight in there with an applause emoji, while Ibrahima Konate expressed his delight with a love-heart eyes response. Teammates.
Szoboszlai honoured for 2023
With all due respect to Szoboszlai’s competitors last night, this must have been a fairly easy choice for the decision-makers.
Liverpool’s No.8 is quite comfortably Hungary’s most recognisable sportsperson right now. On top of that, he’s had a genuinely excellent year.
Obviously, his achievements for the national team will probably have carried the most weight. It isn’t every day they qualify for a major international tournament after all.
But it also shouldn’t be ignored that even before he joined Liverpool, Szoboszlai was having a top year. He wouldn’t have been signed otherwise.
A goal in Leipzig’s DFB Pokal final win was perhaps the highlight of what was an impressive final six months in Germany for Dom.
Since joining the Reds he has arguably gone up a level again.
Gravenberch himself could maybe do with taking one or two notes from his midfield colleague. The Dutchman has found the transition from Germany to England a little tougher going at times.
For now though, all that’s left is to congratulate Szoboszlai on his terrific year. Let’s hope the decision in 2024 is an even easier one. Plenty more to come.
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Time may have been running out on one Liverpool player’s career recently, but he’s turned it around.
That’s the view of pundit Chris Sutton, who believes that Reds defender Joe Gomez may have just saved himself from being sold.
Gomez has been excellent whilst filling in at left-back of late. That continued with a solid display during Sunday’s FA Cup win over Arsenal. And speaking on BBC 5 Live’s Monday Night Club last night, Sutton says the 26-year-old might just have stopped a personal slide at Anfield.
“I think Joe Gomez as a Liverpool player has been there a long time, largely on the periphery and maybe on the way out,” said the pundit. “But he gets his opportunity and he has just shown how reliable he is.
“This is his ninth year at Liverpool and he hasn’t started 100 Premier League games. That’s not a lot of games. I know he went there as a youngster from Charlton and he had a lot of injuries, but I suspect from the outside that I always viewed that his time is running out at Liverpool.
“But he has got his opportunity, playing out of position at left-back now, and doing more than a solid job. That is a testament to the manager as much as anything, being able to seemingly keep so many players happy because so many players want to be starting every week.”
Gomez proves his worth
Often times, comments like these from pundits are laced with a fair bit of hyperbole. At times it seems that if it were up to them, virtually every player would be on the chopping block at one time or another.
But in this case, you have to concede that Sutton is probably right.
Last summer, there were many of a Liverpool persuasion who would have had Gomez sold off. He’d just come off the back of a pretty dreadful campaign and looked unlikely to be the player he had been before his injuries.
There was seemingly interest there in the England international, and it appeared that a fresh start could do him could.
Thankfully, Jurgen Klopp stuck with Joe. And this season so far, he’s been rewarded handsomely for that.
He may have slipped down the pecking order in terms of centre-back at Liverpool, but Gomez currently one of Klopp’s most important players. First-choice left-back and still in the mix at right-back too, the Reds No.2 is showing his quality.
Ask now, and you’d now be hard pushed to find a Liverpool fan who’d have him sold off anytime soon.
As a result, we’d have to agree with Sutton on this point. Klopp might see it differently, mind you. The Reds boss has always been a fan of Gomez and may have had no plans to let him leave. But from a purely form perspective, Joe has turned things around and then some.
Liverpool’s pursuit of a centre-back is unlikely to accelerate in the January transfer window. The club is expected to wait until the summer in order to fortify an important position.
Even with the emergence of Jarell Quansah this season – there is room for Jurgen Klopp to further bolster his options. Realistically, Liverpool would like to add at least one more centre-back to Klopp’s options ahead of next season.
That’s primarily down to the fact that Joel Matip’s contract is expiring at the end of the season and that Virgil van Dijk is not getting any younger either – he’s set to turn 33-years-old this year.
Ideally, as Liverpool overhauled the midfield last the summer – now the Reds will want to do something similar (albeit on a smaller scale) to the defence in the upcoming summer window.
Ousmane Diomande to Liverpool?
According to a report in the Daily Mail – Liverpool ‘like’ Ousmane Diomande of Sporting CB who has caught the eye with some top performances this season. Only 20-years-old, Diomande fits the profile of what Liverpool is looking for and has a £70m release clause.
Diomande is the kind of centre-back who is difficult to beat. As per Wyscout, this season, he averages the third best defensive duels success rate among centre-backs in Liga NOS – winning 75% of his 5.15 defensive duels per 90. He also has the fourth best aerial duels success rate among centre-backs winning 62.5%. Meanwhile, he also averages 10.18 recoveries per 90.
Those are impressive defensive numbers but why he suits Liverpool’s profile even more is because of his ability on the ball.
Diomande has averaged the second most passes (61.68 per 90) in the Portuguese league among centre-backs and has the best passing accuracy (92.94%) out of centre-backs who have attempted at least 50 passes per 90. He also makes the fifth most forward passes (20.23 per 90).
What is very Matip esque about him is that he loves to run forward with the ball. Among centre-backs in the league, Diomande averages the second most dribbles (1.1 per 90) and the fourth most progressive runs (1.1 per 90).
At 20-years-old he’s got the making of a world-class centre-back and he comes from a place that has a history of producing elite talent over the last decade or so and even beyond.
His profile simply ticks a lot of boxes for Liverpool, and based on what he has showed so far this season – Diomande could be an excellent heir to Matip’s throne in the summer and the type of player who makes perfect sense to bring to Anfield.
So far in the January window, Liverpool’s transfers have been in the loan market. The Reds have recalled several players, and could send a few more out on loan as well.
That’s the area where Liverpool are expected to be the busiest on the transfer front this month. However, at this stage, a first team signing cannot be ruled out either.
Given Jurgen Klopp’s injury problems and on top of that the fact that two key players in Wataru Endo and Mohamed Salah are away on international duty – Liverpool have room for new additions.
But whether the club will pounce on a new target will remain to be seen. A lot will largely depend on the market as well. As Liverpool’s transfer history in the January window shows – the club have only acted when called upon to do so – for example when a long-term target was being pursued by another club – like Luis Diaz.
Liverpool transfer expectations for January
According to BBC journalist, Phil McNulty, the area where Liverpool could be willing to spend money on this month is to sign a ‘high-quality’ holding midfielder.
Speaking in his Q&A on the BBC, McNulty was asked where Klopp would invest £40-50m this month if he had that much money to spend. McNulty revealed the following:
“I suspect if he was going to spend that money then it would be on a high-quality holding midfielder. I don’t see him doing that now unless real high quality becomes available, which happens only occasionally in January. I think Klopp is happy with what he has and will wait until summer for the big ticket buys unless something crops up out of nowhere.”
As McNulty has said, at this stage it’s looking unlikely that Liverpool will be making a move in the market. But as he also suggested, something could come out of ‘nowhere’ to surprise as all – just like it has happened in the past.
Certainly, Liverpool could do with another holding-midfielder. Although, with Wataru Endo doing so well – his performances negate an immediate need to bring in someone in January. And Liverpool might be better off playing the waiting game and pursuing someone in the summer instead – when players are more likely to be available.
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