Dominik Szoboszlai leads the Premier League with incredible running stat

Is Dominik Szoboszlai the greatest footballer, nay, human being of all time?

It's entirely possible.

Arriving as a £60m signing from old favourites RB Leipzig, most fans would've expected the 22-year-old Hungarian to be decent sure, but few would've known he'd be this good.

In just three months, Szoboszlai has already bossed the dreaded lactate test like a walk in the park, scored screamers and generally reinvented Liverpool's midfield... all while being really, really, really, ridiculously good-looking.

When former coach Jesse Marsch described him as the modern David Beckham it might've seemed like hyperbole, now it seems like an undersell.

As well as being technically superb, Szoboszlai has an engine.

A real hard-running, box-to-box midfielder, the number eight is both fast (he put in one of the quickest sprints recorded in the Premier League this season during the win over Wolves) and tireless.

According to data and analytics nerds at PFF FC, Szoboszlai has covered more ground than any other player in England's top flight in 2023/24, with a whopping 83.6km under his belt.

Having featured in all seven of Liverpool's Premier League fixtures thus far this campaign, that total equates to a massive 11.94km per 90. Phew.

For reference, a 2021 study by CIES Football Observatory claims that the average distance covered by an outfield player in England's top tier is marginally over 10km a game, highlighting just how remarkable Szoboszlai's stats are.

It's this level of work rate, combined with what Jurgen Klopp described as 'grenade' strikes, that have led to comparisons between Szoboszlai and one particular previous incumbent of the number eight shirt at Liverpool.

It's early days but the Reds have perhaps not had an all-action midfielder this promising since Steven Gerrard.

Speaking earlier this season about how he is finding life at Anfield, after a lightning start with his new club, the 22-year-old said: "I worked a lot to become a player of Liverpool. It was a dream. But I think for every football player it's a dream to play for Liverpool, it's one of the biggest clubs in the world.

"And also the fans, the club, the history and that you can play with these legends and players that I'm playing with, it's a pleasure to be here. Just the fans, just the stadium, just the team, just the history of the club – everything.

"I want to achieve a lot of things this year and not only this [year] but the next couple of years as well."