January Window Arsenal’s Last Chance at Cut-Price Dominik Szoboszlai

The Arsenal fanbase is undefeated.

We’ve been touting Dominik Szoboszlai as the future for two years now, in Arsenal Twitter threads, WhatsApp chats, even on this site (you’re welcome), and we’ve been hyping the kid so much that other clubs have taken interest.

AC Milan make sense, considering Ralf Rangnick, superhero of Red Bull football, was meant to be their technical director as of this fall. Considering they’re linked to every bright footballer in the business, I’m not too fussed.

But now Real Madrid have taken notice of the Hungarian’s talents – it was probably his crazy goal against Atletico in the Champions League this season that sold them, where he hit a ball with so much inverted swerve, the commentators were convinced it took a massive deflection. Nope. kid’s just straight up elite. And even though I don’t care about rumored links, an increase in public awareness means an increase in offers for the starlet.

And the greatest part about signing Szoboszlai, other than his spellbinding ball-striking technique, positional play, and, hey, the fact that he’s literally Europe’s best set-piece taker, is his price. His £22.5m release clause is the worst kept secret in the world at the moment, and every single fanbase wants him at their club.

But the current state of parity won’t last too long. On the Futbol Podcast, and subsequently through the ultra-reliable source of Football365, Red Bull Salzburg coach Jesse Marsch spoke about Szoboszlai’s many suitors, and the fact that the 20-year-old will likely move on in January.

Well, whether he does or he doesn’t leave Salzburg, his price won’t remain at £22.5m after that window closes. Red Bull aren’t stupid. They know his market value is pretty much double his release clause. So, if he doesn’t leave, there will most likely be a bumper new deal sitting freshly printed on the table. One that won’t include such a ludicrously low release clause.

And if he does move on, his value (again) won’t stay the same, simply by virtue of his big-club status. And the worst part is, he’ll be wasted at both Milan and Madrid. We know what those clubs do to young attacking talent. A move to Arsenal is his only opportunity to play in a system built around maximizing his talents, like he has at Salzburg.

Arsenal need to move fast. Whether they look to find a pre-contract, or just seal the deal in two months’ time, missing out on Szoboszlai will be a bigger travesty than losing Hakim Ziyech to Chelsea. Time for Edu to earn his wage.