Newcastle face off against Liverpool and Dominik Szoboszlai this weekend but the Hungarian could easily have been playing for his opponents instead of Jurgen Klopp’s side at St James’ Park.
Szoboszlai joined Liverpool from RB Leipzig in June after the Reds activated the €70 million release clause in his contract right before it expired, after Newcastle had passed up the chance to make their move.
The Magpies had been heavily linked to Szoboszlai going into the transfer window but a move never materialised, with the Newcastle considering the outlay outside of their budget at the time.
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Szoboszlai will visit the stadium he could have been playing at, with Newcastle boss Eddie Howe admitting the club ‘liked’ the playmaker, who has played in every minute of Liverpool’s opening two games.
“For sure we liked him,” Howe said. “He’s had a very good start to his career. He’s captain of his country at a really young age, and that tells you about his mentality.
“He’s a very good technical player. It would have been quite an expensive purchase for us, so there is lots that goes into every transfer. But he is certainly one that we liked.”
Liverpool’s path to Szoboszlai ahead of Magpies trip
Liverpool chose to sign Szoboszlai the day before his release clause was set to expire, with Leizpig ready to demand significantly more for a midfielder who had scored 20 goals in his two campaigns in Germany.
The 22-year-old was brought in by Klopp due to his technique, creative ability and versatility to play all across the attacking midfield positions, as well as deeper on the pitch.
Newcastle, meanwhile, opted to sign Sandro Tonali for €64m, with the ex-Milan star scoring on his debut in the Magpies’ opening victory of the season.
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Liverpool travel to Newcastle on Sunday one point ahead of their rivals and having done the domestic double over them last season despite finishing four points behind Howe’s side.
