SZOBOSZLAI’S “SPANISH LINKS” TO MADRID & CITY SMELL OF AGENT HYPE

Reports over the last few days have claimed that Dominik Szoboszlai is being closely monitored by Real Madrid and Manchester City, with several aggregator accounts shouting about “reports in Spain” suggesting both clubs could move for the Liverpool midfielder. Even outlets such as Sky Sports News and ESPN repeated the claim, crediting Spanish daily AS as the source.

But after looking into it properly, it turns out the story didn’t originate in Spain at all. It came from Hungary, and what’s more — it looks very much like a planted story designed to strengthen Szoboszlai’s position as he negotiates a new deal at Anfield.

Where It Really Started

The earliest mention came on 7 November 2025, when Hungarian outlet Hír TV published an article titled: “£3 million a year is no longer enough – here’s what Dominik Szoboszlai is really worth.”

The piece focused entirely on Szoboszlai’s wages, claiming he currently earns around £120,000 per week, compared with Liverpool’s top earners like Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk who are on £350k–£400k. It then listed other elite midfielders — Jude Bellingham, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Jamal Musiala — all earning far more.

The article described Liverpool as “panicking” over the situation and said the club were preparing a huge pay rise to keep hold of their Hungarian star. It threw in a line that Real Madrid and Manchester City “could pounce” if Liverpool failed to tie him down — but crucially, there were no quotes, no sources, and no evidence. It was opinion dressed up as news.

The piece also referenced Fabrizio Romano’s earlier report that Liverpool were working on a new contract for Szoboszlai — a fact that was true — and used that as justification to name-drop Madrid and City as potential suitors.

In short: it was a domestic think-piece about wages, not a transfer story.

How It Spread

A few days later, Spanish sports paper Diario AS ran what appeared to be a fresh article claiming that both Madrid and City were “closely monitoring Szoboszlai”.

The content mirrored Hír TV’s original almost word-for-word — same salary figures, same 2028 contract reference, same tone of “Liverpool panic” — but AS gave no credit to the Hungarian source.

From there, aggregator accounts on X and Instagram — Transfer News Live, Deadline Day Live, and countless smaller pages — began posting dramatic captions like “Reports in Spain: Madrid and City want Szoboszlai”.

Even mainstream outlets such as Sky Sports News, ESPN, and Sportskeeda repeated the claim, all citing AS.

At no point did anyone stop to check where AS had got the story from, or whether any of it was actually sourced.

What’s Really Going On

The timing says it all. Szoboszlai’s representatives are currently in contract talks with Liverpool, with Romano confirming that the club want to reward him for his performances since arriving from RB Leipzig.

So, just as those talks begin, a friendly national outlet in Hungary publishes a piece declaring that he’s “underpaid” and that Madrid and City are circling. Days later, Spanish media amplify it, the English aggregators go wild, and the story hits global headlines.

That’s the oldest agent trick in the book — plant a flattering rumour to make sure the player’s current club feels the pressure to pay up.

No-one at Madrid has been quoted. No-one at City has been quoted. There’s no evidence either club has made contact. It’s a public leverage tactic — not a transfer.

Our Take

KopTalk did the digging that others couldn’t be bothered with. We traced every mention of Szoboszlai to Madrid or City back to Hír TV’s 7 November article — and there are no credible reports linking him to either club before that date.

So the next time you see headlines screaming “Reports in Spain…”, remember this: the Spanish “report” was just a recycled Hungarian opinion piece that went viral because it made good clickbait.

Liverpool are simply negotiating a new deal with one of their key men — and this kind of noise is all part of the process.