Dominik Szoboszlai settled any lingering doubts over his future last Friday when signing a long-term contract extension at Liverpool, although his agent has revealed that the journey to that point was ‘quite long and complicated’.
The 25-year-old’s new deal has tied him down at Anfield until 2031 (The Athletic), with the Hungarian committing his prime footballing years to the Reds off the back of a season in which he was his club’s standout player, scoring 13 goals and setting up another 12.
The midfielder’s agent Matyas Esterhazy has given an interview to WinWin in which he admitted that it was only in the past few weeks that negotiations accelerated to the point where our number 8 ultimately signed on the dotted line.
Szoboszlai’s representative said: “We started in October. The negotiations were quite long and complicated, but in the last six weeks we have had positive talks, and it was clear that everyone wanted to reach the same goal. After that, we found solutions that made things easier.
“The main factor was always that the player wanted to stay and the club wanted to keep him, but… you know, in this business, you have to find common ground on all aspects of the game, not just professionally but financially as well, and we found a way we hadn’t found before.
“There was no doubt that the player wanted to stay at Liverpool, and that Liverpool wanted to keep him, but we had to find a way to complete the deal.”
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Szoboszlai’s new contract has seen him become one of the highest earners at Anfield, with the Hungarian’s weekly wage more than doubling to £250,000 (Capology), which reflects just how important he’s become to Liverpool.
Only three Reds players are on higher salaries (Capology), and the 25-year-old’s new deal is an accurate reflection of just how pivotal he is to Andoni Iraola’s side.
In fact, he’s been touted as a leading contender to take on the role of vice-captain at LFC, which is up for grabs after the exit of Andy Robertson, and he may well have the armband for the pre-season games in the United States in the absence of club skipper Virgil van Dijk.
Liverpool fans have become accustomed to long-running contractual sagas over the past couple of years, some of which ultimately led to new deals (Mo Salah, Van Dijk) and others which didn’t have a happy ending (Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate).
Kopites will duly be breathing a massive sigh of relief that Szoboszlai has committed his future to the Reds, especially at a time of such significant change on and off the pitch at Anfield and especially when – as Esterhazy has revealed – it took nine months of negotiations for the matter to be settled.
We’re just glad that the Hungarian has many more chapters to write in his career on Merseyside!
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