For the price Liverpool were prepared to pay for Jude Bellingham, they ended up signing Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai from Brighton and RB Leipzig, respectively.
The Reds had tracked Bellingham for some time, but once Real Madrid muscled their way into the race for the teenager; Liverpool were always going to drop behind Los Blancos.
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Evidently, though, Liverpool’s pull remains strong. Despite missing out on a top-four finish, the Merseyside outfit have improved their midfield, a key area that required heavy investment this summer.
A lack of Champions League football may have impacted their plans to strengthen in the middle of the park, and yet both Mac Allister and Szoboszlai were happy to make the move to Anfield.
A core reason behind Liverpool’s failed title bid, and subsequent fifth-placed finish, was that the midfield had been overlooked for far too long.
They’d spent big to strengthen in the final third, adding Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Cody Gakpo to the attack in the last 18 months, and brought in Ibrahima Konate from RB Leipzig to bolster the defence back in 2021.
And yet, since the start of 2021, Fabio Carvalho and Arthur were the only new midfield arrivals. The former has moved to RB Leipzig on loan, while the latter registered just 13 minutes of game time for Jurgen Klopp’s side last season.
Yet with Mac Allister and Szoboszlai added to the ranks, and at least one more still to join, fans can feel confident that they can launch a sustained push for the Premier League title in the coming campaign.
What makes Mac Allister such an appealing addition is that he can carry out a number of duties in midfield. The Argentine is a Swiss army knife of a midfielder, if you will.
Able to operate in any number of roles, Mac Allister won’t disappoint. Indeed, to go with his 10 goals and two assists, the 24-year-old also chipped in with respectable averages of 2.2 tackles, 1.5 key passes and 1.3 successful dribbles.
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Able to provide cover for Fabinho, or act as one of the more advanced midfielders in Klopp’s favoured 4-3-3 setup, the flexibility the 2022 World Cup winner provides the Liverpool boss in the middle of the park is a key trait that the German manager can utilise in-game over the course of the season.
Mac Allister also has the fitness levels to aid a Liverpool side that will, in theory, compete on four fronts next season.
In a gruelling season that saw Mac Allister feature in 35 of 38 league matches, all five of Brighton’s FA Cup outings and six of Argentina’s seven games on their route to World Cup glory, not once did the all-action summer signing pull up with injury.
The durability of the former Seagulls man will certainly have appealed to Klopp.
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His high-octane approach in the middle of the park will allow Mac Allister to not only provide additional cover to the defence, but help create chances for the attackers.
In terms of chance creation, it may be that Mac Allister leaves this for Szoboszlai, with one of the Hungarian’s core strengths the ability to provide for others.
Szoboszlai’s return of 71 key passes ranked fourth in the Bundesliga last season, and this translated to eight assists, that the ninth most in the division.
And, like Mac Allister, the former RB Leipzig man is a versatile operator who can fill in for a number of roles.
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Szoboszlai doesn’t match the profile of midfielders Liverpool have been chasing – Khephren Thuram, Manu Kone and Romeo Lavia have all been linked with a move to Anfield this summer – but the Hungary international is a creative player who Klopp, for the most part, hasn’t had the opportunity to utilise during his time at Anfield.
Better suited in the number 10 role, Szoboszlai could, in theory, player the more advanced of the three midfielders in Klopp’s favoured 4-3-3 system.
That said, with Trent Alexander-Arnold now given the licence to push into midfield, this would then cover the space Szoboszlai vacates when he gets forward, so while not starting off the striker, the 21-year-old would be free to push on and support the attack without the risk of Liverpool being caught out defensively.
In addition, Szoboszlai can play out wide, so provides additional cover for the wingers in this Liverpool side. Here, the youngster is able to utilise another weapon in his arsenal, that of his ability to pick out a teammate and provide an additional route to goal.
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Of the 63 players to attempt 50 or more crosses, Szoboszlai returned the best cross success rate (40.7 per cent) in Germany’s top tier last term, and the Liverpool frontmen should feast on the balls he does put into the box.
Either this is very much a step in the right direction for Liverpool in their rebuild. Two top quality central midfielders are through the door for the price they would have paid for one, and it’s evident that Liverpool remain in the market for at least one more addition in the middle of the park.
As mentioned, Thuram, Kone and Lavia have all been linked with a move to Anfield this summer, and it seems as though the latter is the most likely of the three to make the move to Merseyside in the off-season following Southampton’s relegation.
The Belgian was a ray of sunshine that pierced through the dreary cloud that lingered over St. Mary’s last season, and interest in his services shouldn’t come as a surprise.
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Crucially is Lavia boasts Premier League experience, and is younger than both Thuram and Kone, so has greater scope to improve.
Of course, Manchester City do have a buy-back clause in Lavia, which can be activated next year, though should he leave Southampton potentially for Liverpool, that removes the clause.
No matter the moves Liverpool make next, though, Mac Allister and Szoboszlai are both superb captures for the Reds, and ones that will undoubtedly boost their chances of securing a second Premier League title.
