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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Jamie Spencer

‘One of the Biggest Clubs in the World’—Dominik Szoboszlai’s Agent Responds to Real Madrid Links

Dominik Szoboszlai is “not looking” anywhere but Liverpool, his agent has assured amid speculation about transfer interest from Real Madrid in the midfielder.

Real Madrid’s midfield is in need of a rebuild after Toni Kroos and Luka Modrić left in successive summers without being replaced, while Szoboszlai has been arguably Liverpool’s best player in an otherwise difficult season for the Premier League champions.

But, crucially for the Reds, his head is not being turned by growing gossip.

“It’s completely normal for the public, when Dominik is performing like this, to always talk about where he will go next and if there’s something higher,” Mátyás Esterházy said during an interview with NB1 earlier this month.

Vinicius Junior also stoked rumours when he named Szoboszlai as one of his closest friends in football, having also revealed that he spoke to Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé before each player joined Real Madrid. But it is “not a topic for us,” Esterházy added.

“We are in the middle of the season. He has a lot of work ahead of him in the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League. [Dominik] has said many times how important this is for him, so I don’t think it is right to talk about what will happen in the summer at the moment. Not to mention, Liverpool are one of the biggest clubs in the world and Dominik is in a position within the team that has a lot of reserve, so we are not looking outside or elsewhere.”


Alexis Mac Allister the More Likely Candidate to Leave Liverpool

Alexis Mac Allister
Real Madrid already considered an Alexis Mac Allister pursuit. | Michael Driver/MI News/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Liverpool are not on the brink of losing anyone from the midfield that was completely rebuilt for Jürgen Klopp in the summer of 2023—Szoboszlai, Alexis Mac Allister, Ryan Gravenberch and Wataru Endō arrived in the space of two months for a combined £145 million ($196.3 million).

But of those not in the tail end of their career—Endō is 33 years of age—Mac Allister would be a more plausible exit before Szoboszlai. Both players will enter the final two seasons of their respective contracts this coming summer, at which point it is in Liverpool’s interest to negotiate fresh terms or begin to consider selling when there is still a high transfer fee to be recouped.

Two years out from contract expiry was the moment Liverpool dropped the ball with Trent Alexander-Arnold, kicking that can down the road until it was too late. They won’t fumble again.

Unlike Szoboszlai, Mac Allister’s form has dipped this season and it was recently reported that Real Madrid received “positive feedback” when previously weighing up a pursuit of the Argentina international that then didn’t materialise.

The player’s father and agent, Carlos Mac Allister, has stated that his son is “very happy” at Liverpool and “focused on the current season” without being as firm as Esterházy was over Szoboszlai.


READ THE LATEST TRANSFER NEWS AND RUMORS FROM WORLD SOCCER


This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘One of the Biggest Clubs in the World’—Dominik Szoboszlai’s Agent Responds to Real Madrid Links.

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