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Liverpool legend John Barnes has admitted that he had never heard of Dominik Szoboszlai prior to the Reds signing him in the summer. The Hungary international has arguably been the signing of the summer for Jurgen Klopp's side. However, John Barnes has claimed that he did not know the 23-year-old before Szoboszlai joined the Reds.
Liverpool triggered the £60 million release clause in Szoboszlai's contract to bring him from RB Leipzig in the summer and the midfielder has made an instant impact. John Barnes has credited teams for finding great players rather than going for superstars and heaped praise on his former club for their business. Barnes told The Anfield Wrap, as quoted by TBR Football:
“A lot of teams in the past were looking to sign superstar players, but teams now are signing players, and I’ll be honest with you, I should’ve done my homework, but I’d never really heard of Dominik Szoboszlai before, you look at that and we’re going ‘who the hell is Dominik Szoboszlai’, and teams down there like Brighton are signing players like that that you’ve never heard of and all of a sudden they’re selling them for £80-90m.”
Liverpool have achieved great success in the transfer market in recent years, particualrly since Jurgen Klopp arrived at the helm. The Reds have spent lesser in camparison to their rivals and have mostly got their deals right.
Szoboszlai has been excellent since his arrival to the Merseyside club in the summer and looks like a solid heir to Steven Gerrard's iconic number eight shirt. He has three goals and three assists in 22 games across competitions.
Liverpool legend urges Klopp to start 24-year-old star against Arsenal
Liverpool icon Phil Thompson has urged Jurgen Klopp to hand Cody Gakpo a start against Arsenal over Darwin Nunez. The former Reds defender insisted that Gakpo deserves a chance ahead of Nunez with the Uruguayan struggling for goals of late.
Thompson claimed that Nunez needs to work on his basics and work on his finishing and also urged Klopp to play Gakpo up front. He told talkSPORT:
“You might see Gakpo, I like Gakpo, he poses a new threat completely. I like Nunez, he’s just having one of those spells at the moment where I think he got himself a little bit confused because everybody was talking about his relationship with Mo Salah when they were assisting each other and passing to each other."
Thompson added:
"He’s forgotten what he’s done best and that’s having a shot from anywhere and he’s not doing the same thing anymore. So, he has to get back to his basics. But I would think Cody Gakpo has to come into the manager’s mind, particularly for the Arsenal game.”
Gakpo has started just seven Premier League games this season for Liverpool and has come off the bench on eight occasions. The Dutchman has registered six goals and two assists in 21 appearances for the Reds this season across competitions.
