The two new arrivals from Bayer Leverkusen have had fitness issues whereas the Hungarian has hit the ground running this season

Liverpool made a succession of significant signings during the most sensational transfer window in the club's history. The summer-long pursuit of Alexander Isak obviously dominated the headlines, given the saga was only concluded on deadline day, but the acquisition of Florian Wirtz was the deal that nobody saw coming.

The common consensus was that if Bayer Leverkusen were to actually sanction the sale of their most prized possession, he would go to Bayern Munich or Manchester City. However, Liverpool suddenly and surprisingly emerged as the frontrunners in the race to sign Wirtz at the start of June before agreeing to pay an initial £100 million (£135m) for the attacking midfielder.

The news understandably sparked mass excitement around Anfield. Fenway Sports Group (FSG) had finally decided to splash the cash – and one of the finest young players in world football was on his way to Liverpool.

Amid all of the hype and hysteria, Dominik Szoboszlai was largely forgotten. The Hungarian had played a pivotal part in last season's title triumph yet the presumption was that he'd simply accept a supporting role in Arne Slot's squad.

Szoboszlai, though, has been Liverpool's star performer during the first three rounds of the new Premier League season – and even with Isak now on board, there's no reason to think that he'll suddenly be relegated to the bench.

On the contrary, Szoboszlai has arguably made himself un-droppable – because he's not just posing a threat to Wirtz's status as a starter, he's also emerged as an attractive alternative to another summer signing from Leverkusen, Jeremie Frimpong, at right-back.

Getty Images'Runs for two players'

Jurgen Klopp once described Szoboszlai as "a joy to work with" – and Slot quickly came to understand why. As the Dutchman said in January, "Dom's work-rate is un-be-lievable! He just keeps on running with the highest intensity and that is so important for a team that wants to compete for something."

Slot wasn't wrong. Szoboszlai's pressing was a key component in Liverpool's game plan all season long, while he also made some decisive contributions in massive matches – most notably his goal and ingenious assist in the 2-0 win at Manchester City on February 23, and the opener in the victory over Newcastle three days later that effectively sealed a record-breaking 20th championship.

"He wins the ball back for us, he runs for two players," Slot enthused at the time. "That probably deserves even more credit than him scoring a goal."

Despite pointing out that Szoboszlai's importance to Liverpool was "underestimated", the £60m (£81m) signing still came in for criticism last term for his perceived lack of end product. The 24-year-old may have been directly involved in more Premier League goals during the 2024-25 campaign than the likes of Declan Rice, who was nominated for Player of the Season, Martin Odegaard and Kevin De Bruyne, but his numbers still became a big topic of debate.

Advertisement(C)Getty ImagesOminous arrival

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, for example, made no secret of the fact that he was "not Szoboszlai's biggest fan" and felt that the Reds were entitled to expect more from a player who was regularly deployed as an attacking midfielder.

"I know he's a completely different player, and he's got great energy, but when you think of what Arsenal have got in Odegaard, what Man City had in De Bruyne in the past, what Chelsea have got in Cole Palmer, you want someone who’s going to get you close to 15, 20 goals a season from that position," Carragher told the 'Stick to Football' podcast. Essentially, the England international was arguing that Liverpool need to sign a more productive No.10 during the summer – which is exactly what they did.

Unbeknownst to the fans, Liverpool had been exploring the possibility of signing Wirtz for some time and their interest in the 22-year-old's services made perfect sense. The Germany international is a very different type of attacking midfielder to Szoboszlai. He's a proper No.10, an old-school trequartista with a very modern approach to pressing.

As well as being a wonderful dribbler, Wirtz has a wonderful gift for finding space and picking out passes in between the lines – as he demonstrated during the first half of the Community Shield clash with Crystal Palace.

Getty Images SportSlot's masterstroke

Given his cost and his qualities, then, Wirtz was always going to play in his preferred position when Liverpool began their Premier League title defence at home to Bournemouth on August 15. Szoboszlai started, too, of course but as part of a midfield pivot with Alexis Mac Allister due to the unavailability of the suspended Ryan Gravenberch. It was, thus, thought that when the latter returned to the starting line-up for the game at Newcastle on August 25, Szoboszlai might drop to the bench.

Slot had a problem, though. Not only was Mac Allister missing for the trip to Tyneside due to the birth of his first child, Frimpong was ruled out through injury and the obvious replacement at right-back, Conor Bradley, wasn't match fit. Consequently, Slot picked Curtis Jones to replace Mac Allister in midfield and asked Szoboszlai to fill in for Frimpong. Remarkably, it proved a masterstroke. 

Getty Images Sport'Absolutely outstanding'

Szoboszlai was sensational at St. James Park, first doing an outstanding job in nullifying the threat posed by Newcastle winger Harvey Barnes, and then, after being moved into midfield, effectively creating the winning goal for Rio Ngumoha with an outrageous dummy.

As he didn't touch the ball, Szoboszlai wasn't credited with an assist (Thierry Henry argued he should have been!) – but his characteristic selflessness was rightly and widely lauded, with even Carragher lauding him for an "absolutely outstanding" all-round display. As for Slot, he felt Szoboszlai personified his side's winning mentality.

"It is not easy to play as a full-back if you've only been a midfielder in your career," the Reds boss said after the 3-2 victory. "He played there once in pre-season – I think it was against Stoke when we played behind closed doors – but in that game we only had the ball and now he had to defend a lot. For him to put in a performance like that, you can say a lot about his character."