Dominik Szoboszlai, who replaced Jordan Henderson after moving from Leipzig, has already won the hearts of Liverpool supporters.
Szoboszlai has established himself as an important member of Jurgen Klopp’s midfield since leaving the Bundesliga for £60 million over the summer.
The 22-year-old has contributed to Liverpool’s perfect start to the Premier League season by playing the full 90 minutes in all five of their games thus far and scoring one.
Many people think he is an improvement over Henderson in the right-sided midfield position because of the way he has made the shift seem seamless.
Szoboszlai has taken over the mantle with ease now that the captain is playing in the Saudi Pro League, where Fabinho was recently nutmegged at walking pace in a viral video that demonstrated the standard.
Although the Hungarian is 11 years Henderson’s junior, one figure perfectly captures the impact he has had.
According to FotMob, Szoboszlai has engaged in 50 duels in his first five starts for Liverpool, which is 30 more.
A duel is essentially a “50-50 contest between two players of opposing sides in the match,” according to Opta, and can involve tackles, dribbles, and aerial challenges.
Szoboszlai has prevailed in 24 of his duels (48%) whether they were fought on the ground or in the air, whereas Henderson had a greater success rate, winning 11 of his 20 attempts (55%).
However, the sheer volume of activities he has been a part of demonstrates the impact Szoboszlai is having on the Reds rediscovering their intensity, which was sorely lacking in previous campaigns.
Szoboszlai engaged in a record 20 duels against Newcastle, which is more than Henderson did against Fulham, Manchester United, Bournemouth, Newcastle, and Brighton combined last season.
The new No. 8 has had a fantastic start, and it is hoped that he will continue to improve over the coming weeks and months.
