Despite standing over 6 feet tall, Dominik Szoboszlai wears size seven shoes, which may have been a deliberate strategy orchestrated by his father, according to reports.
Dominik Szoboszlai’s father harbored aspirations of seeing his son follow in the footsteps of Ferenc Puskas, and he took extraordinary measures to steer him toward superstardom.
Szoboszlai, who recently transferred from RB Leipzig to Liverpool in a deal worth around £60 million, currently captains the Hungary national team and has already accumulated 22 appearances at just 23 years old.
The versatile midfielder’s impact has drawn comparisons to that of Puskas, the legendary Hungarian player who scored 84 goals in 85 international appearances between 1945 and 1956.
Reports have surfaced indicating that Szoboszlai’s father aimed to maintain his son’s agility despite his eventual height of 6 feet 1 inch, which led him to have Dominik wear smaller boots to limit foot growth to a size seven.
“It’s a tip, a football hack, shall we say,” The Athletic quoted a source as saying when talking about his father Zsolt’s plan.
“Because if you have big feet, you can’t shoot the ball perfectly unless you are a player like (Zlatan) Ibrahimovic.
“To shoot the ball properly, you have to have long legs and smaller feet, and that’s why Dominik’s father was strict with him when he was younger. Just look at him now.”
Dominik Szoboszlai’s father had a keen role in his development
Ferenc Puskas was captain of the ‘Magic Magyars’ Hungarian national team
Klopp said of his addition earlier this week: “He has pretty much all the attributes you want to see – and the last thing you would think when you see him playing is he is only 23, so there is a lot more to come when he settles in properly.
“Obviously, he has no problem to adapt to everything in an instant, but there is still more to come and we are really pleased.
“We are really pleased, from the first day since he was here he is full of energy. [He is] in the middle of the team already and, yes, it’s good news.”