Arsenal to miss out on Dominik Szoboszlai as Salzburg star opts for Leipzig switch

RB Salzburg star Dominik Szoboszlai has been linked with a transfer to Premier League giants Arsenal, with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid also interested, though is now close to a move to RB Leipzig

Posted Saturday, December 12, 2020 by Dailystar.co.uk

Arsenal are reportedly set to miss out on Dominik Szoboszlai with the RB Salzburg star set to join the Austrian club’s sister side RB Leipzig.

The Gunners had been linked with the midfielder ahead of the January transfer window with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich having also been interested.

Szoboszlai has a release clause of almost £23m in his Salzburg contract with the 20-year-old having scored ten goals for club and country this season.

And Sky Germany report that the Hungary international will stay with the RB brand, heading from Salzburg to Leipzig in the January transfer window.

It means Szoboszlai will follow in the footsteps of a number of former Salzburg stars like Dayot Upamecano and Naby Keita.

RB Salzburg star Dominik Szoboszlai had been linked with a move to Arsenal

Arsenal are believed to have been tracking the midfielder for the past 18 months and were weighing up a move during the summer.

Salzburg boss Jesse Marsch recently said on Szoboszlai’s future: "He's an incredible talent, and I say this: When you coach young players, you have to love them and love the fact that they're going to move on and love that they're going to have big opportunities to prove themselves and show how good they are.

"If you're only worried about how it affects your success, then you're not really going to ever be effective at coaching and leading young people.

"So let's see what happens, but I would be surprised if he winds up staying past winter.

"We play with teenagers, and of course when they do well a lot of clubs get really excited."

Szoboszlai joined RB Salzburg in 2018 and signed a three-year extension to his deal one year later.

He has been compared to Toni Kroos with RB Salzburg's sporting director, Christoph Freund, saying: “He came to Red Bull Salzburg as a very young player. At the time, he was full of talent and he also had a lot of self-confidence.

“In this age, you have to learn a lot to arrive in professional football. So the matches for our cooperations club FC Liefering helped him a lot to improve his skills and also his mentality to became the player, he is now.

“He’s now one of the most interesting young players in Europe.”