One of the most creative players in the world

Together with the arrival of Kai Havertz to Arsenal, this is the most expensive deal of the current transfer window in the Premier League so far. Szoboszlai has made a name for himself on the pitch with eye-catching shots from distance and a perfect ability to play set piece situations, but if we delve a little deeper into his skills, by far one word best describes him - versatility.

Still only 22 years old, the captain of the Hungarian national team can play not only on both wings, but also as a number ten, right or left eight or even as a number six. In the midfield, he can play virtually any position and role. In the context of his transfer to Liverpool, the most natural role seems to be the one filled by Jordan Henderson at the end of the season.

In that case, we would see Szoboszlai rotate positions inside the right midfield and on the wing, where he would constantly switch places with Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander Arnold, making ideal use of his technical ability and adding value in the final stages. Along with his tremendous speed, his strengths include ball control, a wide range of creative passing or kicking technique, whether it be finishing, crosses or the aforementioned set pieces.

The advanced data models also show how much of an asset he was to Leipzig's game. In a metric that tracks all of a player's passes and how much they increase a team's chances of scoring, Szoboszlai was only significantly behind his (now former) teammate Dani Olmo. In the final third of the field during the season, he played a total of 21 different types of passes, making him one of the most creative players in the world in this regard.

So while he creates very dangerous goal scoring opportunities with his crosses from play and set pieces, it's certainly not all about them. He also has a large number of diagonal and perpendicular passes in his repertoire from the midfield and central area near the opponent's box, while he can also transfer the game quickly and accurately from any position on the pitch thanks to his vision. Moving the game to the weak side  has been Liverpool's great weapon in 2018-2020 and with Szoboszlai's arrival, it could once again become one of their assets.

The Hungarian's excellent technique is also evident in his finishing. The German Bundesliga, the Austrian Bundesliga, the Champions League or World Cup qualifiers - everywhere Szoboszlai has scored more goals than the expected goals value attributed to him. We are talking about a conclusive sample of 10,000 minutes played.

Moreover, there are also skills that event data do not record. Which in a roundabout way brings back the versatility mentioned in the introduction. Szoboszlai is constantly scanning the space around him and, when playing without the ball, is able to quickly assess exactly what is happening on the pitch at that moment and how he should react to the situation. He doesn't play according to an established template, but he has an undeniable talent for reading the opponent and adapting to his game. Which is something a player has to be born with.

The Czech back should fit in because of his offensive flair

The current order in the transfer market is relentless. There is an acute shortage of offensive-minded full backs with the potential for future monetisation, and as soon as someone like that comes along, there is immediately a huge battle for him. And that's exactly what happened to Jurásek. The scouting department of Benfica Lisbon, where the young Czech is moving with a price tag of €14 million, may end up celebrating.

Alejandro Grimaldo, already a Bayer Leverkusen player at the time, operated at left-back last season as the busiest man out of the box and one of the key figures in the title campaign and progression to the Champions League quarter-finals. However, if there is a player outside the top 5 of the world's best competitions who can replace the Spaniard, it is the Czech international. In fact, he got the rightful preference over Milos Kerkez of Alkmaar.

What can't be overlooked about Jurásek is his tremendous speed combined with little-seen physical parameters supported by the renowned fitness of the Slavia players. Although he is still only 22 years old, he has excelled in his position strenght-wise in one of the most physically demanding football leagues in the world. He is of such high quality in both attributes that he would probably have no problem adapting quickly to any European competition, including the Premier League, even at the moment.

Among the players who started at least 1000 minutes of play in the past FORTUNA:LIGA season, he maintained the highest percentage of headers and on top of that the third highest in ground duels. He won a large number of balls for his team, especially with his active play, in which he had a success rate of 83%. He therefore disarmed his opponents in four out of five occasions.

His dynamism and good ball management were reflected in a metric that tracks the extent to which a player's runs with the ball put the team in a better position to score. No other back has been as valid in driving the ball into the attacking third as he has. Moreover, he was a constant threat to the opposing goal.

His strengths are especially his crosses, be they high, low, from the side or from deep. Although he was rather sporadic in playing set pieces, he sent a huge volume of balls into the box. He averaged seven per game, which was the second best result. Not at full-back, but across the board... He ended up with eight goal assists in the league thanks to his great final pass.

In an offensively-minded and dominant team like Benfica in domestic competition, Jurásek should put his creativity to immediate use, while adapting just as quickly in other aspects of his game. Coach Roger Schmidt's team has brought in a footballer with huge potential. Both in terms of play and in terms of profit from any future sales.