Liverpool’s season was a mess. There’s no gentler way to put it. Twenty-five points off the top, defensive collapses that made you wince, a very public falling out with their best player of the last decade, and long stretches where the whole thing just looked flat. Not an unlucky flat. Actually flat. And somehow, right in the middle of all of that, one lad kept turning up every single week and making a difference. Dominik Szoboszlai won Liverpool’s Player of the Season with over two-thirds of the fan vote. Whether that’s a genuine honour or a participation trophy with extra steps, that’s worth actually digging into.
Key Points
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Quick Facts Before We Get Into It
| Fact | Detail |
| Age | 25 |
| Date of Birth | 25 October 2000 |
| Birthplace | Székesfehérvár, Hungary |
| Height | 6ft 1in |
| Shirt Number | 8 |
| Appearances (2025-26) | 53 |
| Starts | 53 (every game) |
| Goals | 13 |
| Assists | 12 |
| Player of the Month | 5 times |
| Man of the Match | 8 times |
| Current Contract | Runs to 2028 |
| Contract Status | In talks with Liverpool |
Who He Is
For anyone who needs a bit of background, he came through Red Bull Salzburg’s academy, moved to RB Leipzig in 2021, and Liverpool brought him over for £60 million in the summer of 2023. If you’re wondering how old Dominik Szoboszlai is, he is 25 during this season, born on 25 October 2000. Handing him the number 8 shirt on arrival was not subtle. That shirt means something at this club, and giving it to a new signing sends a message about expectations.
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He captains Hungary. In that country, that still means something enormous. Nobody had carried that responsibility with the same weight since Ferenc Puskas, and that is not a comparison made casually over there. At 6 ft 1 in, how tall Dominik Szoboszlai is actually matters on the pitch—that frame is a big reason he wins headers and holds the ball up in tight spaces the way he does. His market value sat around 100 million euros on Transfermarkt at the time, which told you what the rest of European football made of where he was at. And again, he was 25. That’s the bit that made the whole profile interesting.
What the Season Actually Looked Like
Right, the numbers. Fifty-three appearances, all starts. Only Van Dijk and Mac Allister got more game time, and only Van Dijk edged him in minutes. Think about that for a second—in a season where Liverpool’s squad rotated constantly, picked up injuries, and had players going in and out of form, Szoboszlai never once gave Slot a reason to drop him.
He scored 13 goals. Second-highest at the club behind Ekitike. His 12 assists were the most of anyone in the squad. FotMob recorded 78 chances created and 14 big chances in the Premier League alone, both the highest figures at Liverpool. Expected assists of 6.8, again top at the club. These are not numbers padded out by easy games or garbage time minutes. They’re built across a full season, in and out of form for the team around him.
Eight of his 13 goals ended up on the Goal of the Season shortlist. Four came from free kicks directly. One of them – 32 yards out against Arsenal, a side that only lost twice in the Premier League all season – was the kind of strike that makes you put the remote down. That goal in that game said something about the level he can reach when the occasion actually calls for it.
Then there’s the right-back thing, which doesn’t get talked about enough. He played out of position in a back four ten times during Liverpool’s defensive injury crisis. Most midfielders, asked to do that, either struggle or quietly become a liability going forward. Szoboszlai did neither. He got through it without it becoming a problem, which is its own kind of credit.
The Case Against, Because It Exists
Liverpool finished 25 points off the top. Manchester United – a club not exactly operating at peak efficiency themselves – finished 11 points ahead of them. This was not a good Liverpool season, and winning an individual award inside a bad collective season is a different thing from winning it when your team is competing.
Szoboszlai basically acknowledged this himself. When asked about the Premier League’s best player this season, he said Bruno Fernandes, who broke the all-time assists record with 21 in 35 games. That wasn’t him being falsely modest. That was an honest read of where his own season sat when you zoom out past Anfield.
There’s also the quieter argument some supporters make, which is harder to quantify but not nothing—that being only quality on the ball only takes you so far at Liverpool. The club has a culture, a weight, a set of expectations around what playing for this shirt actually means when things go wrong. Salah understood it. Gerrard lived it. Szoboszlai has the ability. Whether he has that full sense of what the shirt demands in the difficult moments—that’s still developing, and it’s fair to say so.
What’s Happening With Him Right Now
As of June 2026, Liverpool is in active talks with its representatives about a new deal. His current contract runs to 2028 so nobody’s panicking, but the fact they’re having the conversation now suggests he’s central to whatever the club is planning next. The expectation from people close to it is that he’ll sign an extension, though nothing official has come out yet.
There’s the usual summer noise about clubs elsewhere keeping tabs on him—that happens every year with players at his level. But his willingness to sit down and talk about a new deal suggests he’s not looking for a way out. And his market value staying at 100 million euros despite Liverpool’s difficult year tells you European football thinks his performances were personal, not a product of the environment.
Final Verdict
He deserved it. Not because he fixed Liverpool or made them something they weren’t – he didn’t, and nobody credible is claiming otherwise. But the award is for Liverpool’s best player, and there is genuinely no argument to be had about who that was.
He played 53 games and was never dropped. He scored in moments that actually mattered. He created more than anyone else in that squad. He played right-back for ten games without moaning about it. He kept his level through a 53-game season when most of the players around him couldn’t.
Honestly, showing up consistently in a difficult season takes more than showing up when everything is working. When your team is struggling, it’s easy to drift. Szoboszlai didn’t drift. That’s worth something.
The bigger question is whether next season is when he stops being Liverpool’s best player in a hard year and starts being the engine of something that actually challenges. That’s what 2026-27 is for. He has the tools. Let’s see what he does with them.
FAQ
How many goals did Szoboszlai score in 2025-26?
13 goals and 12 assists across 53 appearances, all from the starting lineup.
Is Szoboszlai getting a new contract at Liverpool?
Talks are ongoing as of June 2026, his current deal runs until 2028 and the expectation is he will sign an extension.
Who did Szoboszlai name as his Premier League Player of the Season?
Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United, who set a new assists record with 21 in 35 Premier League games.
Did Szoboszlai play any position other than midfield in 2025-26?
Yes, he played right-back ten times during Liverpool’s defensive injury crisis and handled it without it becoming a problem.
Sources and References
- Liverpool FC Official – Szoboszlai Player of the Season
- This Is Anfield – Player of the Season 2025-26:
- This Is Anfield – Season Review
- Liverpool – Szoboszlai Names PL Player of the Season
- RoundTable – Szoboszlai Named POTS After Stunning Campaign
- Wikipedia – Dominik Szoboszlai
- Transfermarkt – Szoboszlai Profile
