Eddie Howe admits Newcastle interest in £60m Liverpool player

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Eddie Howe has admitted that Newcastle United wanted to sign Dominik Szoboszlai this summer.

Before Liverpool secured the services of Dominik Szoboszlai in a £60 million move from RB Leipzig this summer, Eddie Howe had wanted to bring the midfielder to Newcastle United.

Howe’s side will now have to face Szoboszlai this afternoon, when they host Liverpool at St James’ Park.

Despite not landing Szoboszlai, Howe was able to significantly upgrade his midfield contingent during the transfer window. Sandro Tonali was brought to Tyneside from AC Milan in a deal worth £55 million.

The midfield battle will be fascinating to watch in what is likely to be a fiercely contested affair between the Magpies and Jurgen Klopp’s team. Szoboszlai himself will have to be at his best to ensure that he can drive forward to effectively support attacks, whilst remaining mindful not to surrender too much space in the middle of the park for the likes of Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes to exploit.

If Newcastle’s midfielders can get on the ball with enough time to pick their passes, then the likes of Harvey Barnes and Alexander Isak will be able to test the Liverpool defence with their pace and direct running. 

Szoboszlai a luxury Newcastle didn’t need

Equally, though, Szoboszlai can hurt Newcastle. Howe is very aware of the qualities that the 22-year-old possesses. As quoted by Chronicle Live, the English coach said of the 32-cap Hungary international, “he’s had a really good start to his career and is captain of his country from a young age. That tells you everything about his mentality. Very technical and yeah it would be quite an expensive purchase for us. So there’s lots that go into every different transfer but he’s certainly one that we liked.”

Despite his relative youth, Szoboszlai has already amassed a great deal of experience. On top of his international exploits, the midfielder has racked up over 200 senior appearances at club level to date. These outings have come across spells with Austrian outfits Liefering and Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig in Germany, and now Liverpool, of course.

The Hungarian would have been a brilliant addition to Howe’s squad, but would have been something of a luxury player for Newcastle, who were smart to channel their investment into Tonali and other areas of the pitch.