THE ‘Hungarian Kevin De Bruyne’ and arguably the most valuable player in the Austrian Bundesliga, Dominik Szoboszlai is quickly turning a lot of heads around Europe with his scintilating performances for Red Bull Salzburg this past year.
Along with Erling Braut Haaland and Takumi Minamino, before their January departures, Szoboszlai formed the base and foundations of an exciting RB Salzburg attack which also wreaked havoc in the Champions League last season.
Already in the Champions League this campaign, he’s already become the youngest Hungarian to notch two goals from two consecutive Champions League matches, his second coming at the Wanda Metropolitano against Atletico Madrid. A quite brilliant goal too and the first against Lokomotiv Moscow, an even better one:
Dominik Szoboszlai quickly emerged as one of the key pieces in the attacking setup, now with Haaland and Minamino out of the picture, Szoboszlai could be next in line for a big money move away next summer.
With Arsenal, Liverpool, Leicester City, Roma and Inter Milan reportedly scouring for his gifted services in the past, this report will provide brief overview of his career to date, and a detailed analysis showing just why he is so highly coveted in Europe.
Who is Dominik Szoboszlai?
Born in Székesfehérvár, Hungary. Szoboszlai’s first career steps came in the form of the youth team of local outfit Videoton, now referred to as Fehérvár FC. Further youth stints came at Főnix-GOLD, Újpest and MTK Budapest, with the midfielder’s performances at the latter catching the eye of a well-renowned and much acclaimed academy of RB Salzburg.
The Hungarian international’s move subsequently came at the Salzburg feeder team Liefering. He made his debut for the outfit against Kapfenberg in the 2017/18 campaign. Szoboszlai then registered his first goal in August 2017 against FC BW Linz. Just under a year later, he was rewarded with first professional bow for RB Salzburg in May 2018, against Austria Wien, coming on as a second-half substitute for Enock Mwepu. His first goal for Salzburg came in a Austrian cup 6-0 triumph.
Since then, the talented midfielder has established himself as a first team regular, a vital cog in well oiled, fascinatingly drilled Jesse Marsch team. Szoboszlai also became a regular feature in their Champions League campaign last season, playing some scintilating stuff causing problems for Liverpool in both their group ties and also against Italian giants Napoli. He scored his first Champions League goal against Genk in a thrilling 6-2 spectacle.
What’s Szoboszlai’s style of play?
The 20-year-old may not have scored in both ties against Liverpool last year, but it was his performance at Anfield that caught the eye of many, providing an assist on the night and also playing a key role in Erling Haaland’s equalizer.
Very few players in the opposition side have stood out at Anfield in the past year or so but Szoboszlai shone his bright light on arguably the grandest stadium in Champions League history. The Hungarian constantly wreaked havoc on Liverpool’s back-line with his constant running, carving them open with his quick fire and delicate passing.
What’s so pivotal to his game is his dribbling, constantly breaking the lines of play to transition into attack and carry his side forward. RB Salzburg are a side well drilled in the art of fast-paced attacking football and Szoboszlai is in fact the quarter-back who keeps things ticking over. Also, when lining up on the left, he constantly roams inside to the central positions constantly threading through balls to his forwards between the right-back and centre-back and also dissecting deep blocks and high defensive lines.
Szoboszlai is a player blessed in performing spectacular actions when breaking down any type of defences. His nimble footwork and trickery means defenders just don’t know what he’ll do next whether its dribble past his marker to form a decisive pass into his forwards. It’s that unpredictability in his game that sets him apart from his teammates. His actions around the final third are so effective, that his teammates too, are surprised by his passes or pieces of skill to breach tight defences.
His first thought isn’t to break into the penalty area, but to linger outside it, in the half-spaces or centrally, his remarkable trickery and footwork means well capable of getting by one or two markers and feeding the forwards or even operate in tight spaces and beat the oppositions press.
He’s very much a creative force, rather than a goalscorer. Szoboszlai averaged around 0.56 assists last season and played close to 2 key passes per game. He’s also a very good dead-ball specialist. If we was to compare to one player in the Premier League, it would arguably be Kevin De Bruyne, because of their ruthless streak when creating in the final third, and also dictating play from deep if needed.
Szoboszlai stands at 6’1 which is remarkably tall for a creative player, but that is a strength for him rather than a weakness. He may not be physically strong like most midfielders, but he sure knows to use his body to protect the ball and shield off his markers. It’s that trait coupled with his trickery and skill on the ball allowing him the ease and comfort in which to dribble past his markers.
The Hungarian has started off the current campaign like he ended the last, and in the past 22 games, he’s contributed 13 goals and 18 assists as well as scoring five times in all competitions this season for both club and country. If the talented midfielder carries on in such rich vein of form, then there’s no reason why he can’t be linked with a January move away like his former teammates Erling Haaland and Takumi Minamino.
Is he ready to make the step-up?
Dominik Szoboszlai shows such remarkable technique in his game, though one area he needs work on is that at times, he tends to try and do too much whether its dribble one too many plays then lose the ball in vital instances.
He can often miss the right moments to release the ball when an opportunity arises, regularly trying to take all the glory rather than share it with his teammates, but that’s understandable considering he’s still in his youth, with some refinement, there’s no reason why he can’t match the heights of Kevin De Bruyne in the near future.
Despite all this, the Hungarian is a remarkably gifted young midfielder, but at times last season, he found himself on the cusp of Jesse Marsch’s team. Now he’s one of the key men as Salzburg plan another assualt domestically and in Europe. Szoboszlai has been shortlisted for the 2020 Golden Boy award, and his spectacular showings and abilities warrants such recognition.
Reported interests from clubs such as Liverpool, Arsenal and AC Milan in the past does indeed show that Szoboszlai is highly coveted and rightly so, he holds the potential to be one of the best player he’s country has ever seen, also holding the capabilities to be one of the brightest midfielders in Europe.
It’ll be intriguing to see who he decides to play at next, preferably a side that will out spend a lot of time on furthering his development and honing on his talents. Dominik Szoboszlai holds an abundance of it.
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