Liverpool versus Red Bull Salzburg was one of those all-too rare examples of a game that guaranteed goals.
There were seven of them when the Premier League giants took on the dominant force of Austrian football in a thrilling Champions League clash at Anfield last October.
And while Liverpool edged one of the season’s most exhilarating matches thanks to Mo Salah’s winner, Salzburg’s merry band of mercurial attackers captured the imagination on Merseyside.
And when Jurgen Klopp came calling two months later, knocking on the door for Takumi Minamino’s signature, Liverpool’s interest came as no surprise to the man who had transformed the diminutive Japan international into one of Europe’s most potent attacking talents.
“Jurgen Klopp thinks similarly to (Red Bull head of sport and development) Ralf Rangnick and the way we think. So he is always looking (to sign players from) here,” Salzburg coach Jesse Marsch told the Liverpool Echo after Minamino sealed his £7 million move to the six-time European champions.
“There are a lot of players here that would fit Liverpool’s system.”
Dominik Szoboszlai is another.
As the Hungarian’s agent, Matyas Esterhazy, tells Digi Sport, it’s only a matter of time before he follows in the footsteps of Minamino – not necessarily with a move to Liverpool but by joining a bonafide continental giant after graduating with top honours from the Salzburg finishing school.
But it is what Esterhazy said next that could give a stodgy, sluggish Arsenal side the advantage over Klopp’s Premier League champions (90Min).
“Whether Dominik will move in January or summer, the most important thing is he will go to a place where we think he will have a good chance to play and a good chance to continue the development curve he started in Salzburg,” Esterhazy explains.
“For us, this is the most important thing.”
Ten months into his Anfield career, Minamino’s tally of Premier League starts stands at two. This season, the gifted playmaker has featured for just 57 minutes.
And, given the star-studded nature of Klopp’s midfield, Szoboszlai might be concerned a move to the red half of Merseyside would see him take up residency alongside his former Salzburg teammate on the bench.
Tottenham, meanwhile, lost Christian Eriksen but gained Giovani Lo Celso, with Tanguy Ndombele’s rejuvenation giving Jose Mourinho a dash of unpredictability.
At Leicester, James Maddison is getting back to his best, as is James Rodriguez at Everton.
That leaves one obvious destination for Szoboszlai – an Arsenal side that has failed to score a goal from open play in six hours as Mesut Ozil wastes away in the background.
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