Rio Ferdinand: Liverpool wrong to compare ‘overhyped’ £60m star to Reds legend – ‘I haven’t seen that’

Lewis Oldham
Liverpool transfer
Rio Ferdinand comments on Liverpool star.

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand thinks Liverpool are wrong to compare summer signing Dominik Szoboszlai to one of their iconic former players.

The Hungary international was one of Liverpool‘s marquee signings during the 2023 summer transfer window. They paid around £60m to sign him from Bundesliga outfit RB Leipzig.

Liverpool invested around £200m to overhaul their midfielder following the exits of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Szoboszlai has been one of Liverpool’s standout performers this season as he’s grabbed four goals and three assists in his 26 appearances across all competitions.

The midfielder missed Sunday’s 2-0 win over Arsenal in the FA Cup due to a hamstring injury but Ferdinand commented on his form during the latest Vibe with Five podcast. The Man Utd reckons the Liverpool newbie is being “overhyped” and shouldn’t be compared to Steven Gerrard.

“I know everyone is hyping him, but I don’t think Dominik Szoboszlai has done (as well as people make out),” Ferdinand said via Vibe with Five. “He’s a good player but people are saying ‘Oh, he’s the next [Steven] Gerrard!’ and I haven’t seen that yet.

“I see bare of their [fans’] comments. But one of my mates in my group always says it. But he is easy on the eye.”

After Liverpool’s win over Arsenal, Reds boss Jurgen Klopp rubbished suggestions that this victory shows they have an advantage in the Premier League title race.

No. I can’t (read into it). It doesn’t mean nobody can, but I can’t. We don’t have a problem with belief and confidence, we are not really bothered about the things you are talking about because we can read the calendar,” Klopp told reporters.

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“We see it’s January; it’s cold outside, stuff like this, and you just have to stay warm and play as good as you can, and that’s what we try.”

Liverpool defender Joe Gomez meanwhile reckons they are best to “take it one game at a time” as they attempt to lift multiple trophies this term.

“We don’t want to get giddy. We’re all just full of desire and want to make the best out of the season,” Gomez said.

“All we can do is take it one game at a time. I know it’s a cliche, but there’s desire and we have a platform to build on.

“We can’t take that for granted, as we know with last season it’s not always plain-sailing and we went through rough patches but we built from it and learnt from it. So, we have to keep at it and see where it takes us.”