Fabrizio Romano has provided CaughtOffside with an exclusive update on Dominik Szoboszlai’s transfer to Liverpool, explaining precisely why he’s ending up at Anfield rather than joining Newcastle United.
According to Romano, writing in his CaughtOffside column, Liverpool didn’t actually face serious competition from Newcastle for Szoboszlai, so were able to press ahead with this move due to triggering his release clause, something the Magpies didn’t do as they were focused instead on signing Sandro Tonali from AC Milan.
Liverpool fans may also be interested to know that the Fabio Carvalho loan move to Leipzig is not connected to the Reds being able to sign Szoboszlai.
“Liverpool and RB Leipzig have started to exchange documents to finalise the Dominik Szoboszlai deal, and he’s been to Merseyside for medical tests. It looks like all the paperwork has been approved, while the player has also had a direct call with Jurgen Klopp as this nears completion,” Romano said.
“To be clear – the Szoboszlai deal was not linked to Fabio Carvalho and his loan move to Leipzig. Liverpool already had Szoboszlai’s name in mind a long time ago, then they decided with Klopp to enter the race in strong way last week. Szoboszlai was immediately excited for this possibility.
“Despite links with Newcastle, it’s not about the money or Champions League football or anything like that – Newcastle were simply focused on the Sandro Tonali deal and Liverpool decided to go for Szoboszlai, very simple. The player didn’t reject one club for another, he didn’t have to choose, Newcastle never triggered his clause, Liverpool did.”
It will be interesting to see how this deal works out, but some fans may well be wondering if Szoboszlai might have done better to move to Newcastle right now, with their project at such an exciting phase as they prepare for Champions League football.
LFC are the bigger name, but they had a difficult season in 2022/23 and it’s not necessarily clear that they’ll be in a position to bounce straight back next season.