Ex-transfer chief misjudged Dominik Szoboszlai with “too expensive” claim

Liverpool’s former sporting director, Jorg Schmadtke, is happy to have been proven wrong after initially seeing the deal for Dominik Szoboszlai as “too expensive.”

The Reds signed one of Europe’s most promising talents from Leipzig for a fee in the region of £60 million, with Liverpool taking full advantage of his release clause.

Szoboszlai proved an instant hit at Anfield, and while injury has disrupted his season of late, the Reds landed a 23-year-old with an incredibly high ceiling.

An alternative to Mason Mount, Liverpool landed quite the deal, but the now departed Schmadtke initially felt the Hungary captain was overpriced – though that thought quickly changed.

“In Liverpool there was someone who cost €70 million, Dominik Szoboszlai, who we brought from Leipzig,” Schmadtke told German outlet Die Zeit.

“Then I said: ‘It’s too expensive’. From today’s perspective, that was a misjudgment on my part.

“The boy was an important Liverpool player from day one. He performed better than I would have expected him to.”

Quite the ‘misjudgement’, indeed!

In his debut season so far, Szoboszlai has made 33 appearances, contributed seven goals and set up a further four, and despite recently missing 10 Games in a run of 12, he’s played the eighth-most minutes of any Red (2,220).

The Hungary captain provides, at times, an underappreciated presence in midfield, but the fresh and energetic legs he has added to the team has helped transform Liverpool’s midfield.

A confident and assured player and person, Szoboszlai has started life brightly at Anfield and he will have a big role to play in the Reds’ pursuit of the Premier League and Europa League titles.

As for the current whereabouts of Schmadtke, who left his post as sporting director at the end of the January transfer window, he’s currently out of work but attracting interest from 2.Bundesliga’s Hamburger SV.