Why Man Utd's 'interest' in Szoboszlai makes no sense

Stefan Bienkowski

• 11 Nov 2021 15:46 CST
• 8 min read

Manchester United are, perhaps more than any other club in the world, inundated with transfer rumours on a daily basis linking them with dozens of players.

Of course, a very small minority of such reports are indeed true and the Old Trafford side end up signing said players for remarkable sums of money. But more often than not it’s mostly nonsense.

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One such example of this came about this week when the Premier League giants were linked with a move for RB Salzburg midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai by German newspaper Sport-Bild. Here’s why such a move is highly unlikely next summer and almost impossible in the coming January window.

He would cost far too much

Szoboszlai only made the move to Leipzig in January of this year, when he left RB Salzburg for a tidy sum of €22 million. As such, the attacking midfielder is currently valued at no more than €30m.

However, if Man Utd were serious about signing the Hungarian talent they would likely have to fork over more than twice that amount for his signature.

RB Leipzig clearly signed the 21-year-old attacker with the intention of developing him in the Bundesliga and one day selling him to a club of Man Utd’s stature. Which is why he has a reported minimum-fee release clause between €60-70m.

He hasn’t even proved himself in Germany

Another reason why this rumour makes no sense is that Szoboszlai has hardly got going at his new club.

While it would seem perfectly logical for the Hungary international to move clubs after one full season, Szoboszlai only joined Leipzig in January and due to an injury he picked up shortly after his arrival, the young player has only made 15 appearances to date.

As such, Man Utd would be forking out a huge amount of money for a player that has scarcely made an impression in the Bundesliga yet. Which, naturally, makes absolutely no sense.

Man Utd have no space for him

Another reason why Man Utd will likely have no interest in signing Szoboszlai at this moment in time is because they already have numerous players just like him.

The Hungarian talent enjoys playing off either wing and cutting inside to cause trouble. Just like Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial. Or he can play as a more traditional no.10. Which is exactly where Bruno Fernandes pitches his tent every week.

In other words, there is simply no space for Szoboszlai in this Man Utd side and signing him would do nothing but cause problems.