Another day, another picture perfect free-kick floated into the top corner from the ruthless right boot of Dominik Szoboszlai.
The Hungarian wonderkid might have grown up idolising Paul Pogba and Toni Kroos, but even a pair of World Cup-winning superstars would commit a heinous crime or two for Szoboszlai’s ability from a dead ball.
Curling a glorious shot over the wall and past a stranded Sturm Graz goalkeeper, Szoboszlai scored his fourth free-kick of this season alone as Austrian champions Red Bull Salzburg racked up another glut of goals on Wednesday night.
Salzburg have already lost Erling Haaland and Takumi Minamino this season, while Hwang Hee Chan is on the verge of taking Timo Werner’s place at RB Leipzig.
So, with yet another headline-hogging striker under his belt, no wonder head coach Jesse Marsch is not exactly feeling too confident about Szoboszlai’s future.
“He has shown his quality in the last few games, he has improved a little every day and is a great guy. Hopefully we can keep him. But I’m not so sure about that,” Marsch told Sky Austria with Szoboszlai’s latest moment of Beckham-esque brilliance fresh in the mind.
“For me he will be one of the best midfielders in Europe in the next few years,” sporting director Christoph Freund adds to Sky.
“He has what it takes. He is a special player. ”
You would imagine, then, that Gylfi Sigurdsson and Lucas Digne would have to step up their game in the dead-ball department if the £18 million-rated Szoboszlai ends up choosing Everton this summer (TuttoJuve).
The 19-year-old has also been lined up by Leicester City, according to The Sun in May, while Arsenal could reward Mikel Arteta for a strong end to the season with one of the most in-demand youngsters on the continent (Guardian).
If Szoboszlai does pack his bags for the Premier League this summer, goalkeepers everywhere really should get to work practicing their wall-building skills.
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