Chelsea player made huge $68m Liverpool transfer mistake and Dominik Szoboszlai knows why

Chelsea player made huge $68m Liverpool transfer mistake and Dominik Szoboszlai knows why

Dominik Szoboszlai has praised one of his teammates' impact since arriving at Liverpool. He could have been perfect for a player who made a big transfer mistake.

Dominik Szoboszlai has paid tribute to Wataru Endō’s impact since arriving at Liverpool. The pair both made the move to Anfield from the Bundesliga last summer.

The duo arrived as part of a summer overhaul in midfield , with Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch also signed as the likes of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and James Milner left the club. So, far, with Liverpool still gunning for four trophies this season, the rebuild has proven a success.

Endō in particular has come in for praise recently, with the Japanese international establishing himself in Jürgen Klopp’s side since the turn of the year. The 31-year-old earned yet more plaudits for his performance against Manchester City on Sunday.

Endō’s arrival was perhaps not as heralded as Szoboszlai’s, having arrived after the failed signings of Moisés Caicedo and Roméo Lavia, who both chose to move to Chelsea instead. At just $21m (£16m/€19m) though, he’s proving to be something of a bargain, and his teammate is much happier being on the same side as him now.

“It is never easy to come into a new team, a new league with new players,” Szoboszlai said (via the ECHO). “But I think we showed as a team we can reach almost everything.

“Not yet but we are on it. We have a completely new midfield with Macca, with Endō, with Ryan, with me and we showed up quite well.

“I played against him (Endō) when he was at Stuttgart and he is a player who is everywhere! It feels like you pass him and then you turn around and he is already there.

“So I can understand how the people are thinking, ‘How he is there, exactly, when I just passed him?’ But I’m happy to have him in my team.

“It is not my decision to decide if he is a good signing or not. But of course, he shows he is important for the team. This is the most important thing.”

It’s made all the more remarkable when you consider how much Liverpool could have ended up spending if it had signed one of Caicedo or Lavia. The latter ended up going to Chelsea for an initial fee of $68m (£53m/€62m) and has barely even touched a ball this season.

Had he made the move to Anfield, there would have no doubt been some raised eyebrows at that fee, but if Endō had arrived alongside him, we might well have been looking at the ideal plan for Liverpool’s future. At 20 years old, he would have had plenty of time to learn from the Japanese international before eventually succeeding him in the Liverpool midfield as part of the new era.

As it is, he looks set to continue watching from the sidelines as Chelsea struggles to get a top-half finish. Even then, it’s hard to see him forcing his way into the Blues’ expensively assembled midfield. If it wasn’t clear at the time, he made a huge error in choosing Chelsea over Liverpool.