Liverpool now head towards the unknown with Dominik Szoboszlai
Liverpool are quickly heading towards unchartered territory with Dominik Szoboszlai. The midfielder will answer his biggest question.
Dominik Szoboszlai has been a revelation since arriving at Liverpool this summer. The Hungarian immediately looked at home and, importantly, feels like the player the Reds lacked over the last few years.
Szoboszlai can play in a proper midfield role but has the ability to burst right into the attack, both with the ball at his feet or off the ball. He adds such a fantastic attacking dimension to the side - and that's before you get to his sensational technique. Few strike the ball as well as the Reds' no.8.
But Liverpool are heading towards the unknown with Szoboszlai and he'll soon need to answer the biggest question that hangs over him. He's already played 31 per cent of the minutes his amassed last season - and it goes further than that.
His final season with RB Leipzig was actually the most minutes he's ever played in his career by far. 2444 in total - for comparison, Mohamed Salah played over 3200 in the Premier League in 2022/23.
Szoboszlai's minutes combine for the equivalent of 27.2 sets of 90 minutes. The season before, that number was as low as 17. He essentially only played half of the Bundesliga season in 2021/22.
His final campaign with RB Salzburg was even worse after an injury forced him to miss 60 games. Only 800 minutes across the season - 8.9 90s. Before that, when Szoboszlai was only 18, he had what remains his second-most active season but that was still only the equivalent of 18 league games.
And so as Liverpool continue to use Szoboszlai regularly, they're going to test him in a way he never really has been. Will there be injuries? Burnout? Nothing? We really don't know - and that's the point here.
Unchartered territory, as we say. Szoboszlai's ability to contribute for an entire season is really the only question that remains of him. Liverpool are firmly on course to answer that as soon as possible.