Liverpool will scour Europe and the world once again as they look to delve into the transfer market in 2025.
The Reds have built a reputation as one of the most impressive and thorough clubs on the planet when it comes to signing players.
This has led to Liverpool assembling a fantastic squad across a number of years. One which has gone on to win the Premier League title.
A key cog in Arne Slot’s winning machine has been midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai.
Szoboszlai was signed from RB Leipzig for £60m in 2023 and has been a starter for Liverpool from virtually the moment he signed.
But according to former AC Milan chief football officer Zvonimir Boban, the Reds almost missed out on the Hungarian three years before he eventually joined.
Szoboszlai provided another assist against Arsenal on Sunday as he made it six for the season in the Premier League.
The 24-year-old has faced calls for a while now to increase his output in an attacking sense and he has started to answer those of late. Indeed, Szoboszlai has been ‘outstanding’ at times this season.
The first goal of his seven goals of the campaign came away at AC Milan in September. The Hungary captain was then seen sporting a Rossoneri kit at full-time having swapped shirts on the pitch.
And according to Boban, Szoboszlai was on the verge of joining Milan for real in January 2020 along with future Leipzig teammate Dani Olmo.
“Personally I went to close Dani Olmo,” the former director said on the Milan Hello YouTube channel.
“They [Milan] didn’t want to do it, it was January 2020. Everything was agreed, maybe something had to be raised, but it was a deal worth 18 plus two [million Euros].
“We had also taken Szoboszlai , everything was agreed: 20 million [£17m] of the clause with Salzburg. Two operations that we would have concluded with the sales of [Krzysztof] Piatek and Suso. There too they denied and I said to myself: ‘What the hell is this?’”.
Although it’s feasible that the Reds could still have plucked him from San Siro, it is more plausible that Szoboszlai would have stayed.
Instead, the midfielder eventually left Salzburg for Leipzig in the summer of 2021. From there, Liverpool was a logical next step for him.
It’s true that Milan are no longer the club they once were and the Reds are still a step up. Szoboszlai may have seen it that way, too. But the more plausible scenario is that Liverpool would have ended their interest and missed out on their No.8.
Whatever Milan’s reasons were for pulling the plug, Boban doesn’t quite say. However, Liverpool are now reaping the rewards of that misjudged decision more than five years ago.
