Three years after persistent links with a move to Arsenal led to nowhere, Hungarian protege Dominik Szoboszlai is set to belatedly earn his dream transfer to the Premier League.
The RB Leipzig attacker is understood to be on the brink of joining Liverpool in a €70m (£60.2m) deal, having had his release clause triggered by the Reds prior to the end of June.
Szoboszlai has already been seen arriving in England ahead of his medical tests, which are set to take place this weekend before he pens his long-term contract, and the 22-year-old will become Liverpool's second signing of the summer after Argentine midfielder Alexis Mac Allister.
Here, Sports Mole takes a look at which shirt numbers could be available to Szoboszlai at Anfield.
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Since swapping Red Bull Salzburg for RB Leipzig in 2021, Szoboszlai has proudly sported the number 17 on his back, and that jersey has been donned by a selection of notable Liverpool names down the years.
Indeed, Steven Gerrard was in possession of the '17' during his breakthrough years at Liverpool, while Paul Ince and Steve McManaman were also assigned the shirt during the 1990s.
In more recent times, the shirt has been associated with less revered names - Ragnar Klavan, Mamadou Sakho and Maxi Rodriguez to name a few - but it has been donned by Curtis Jones since the 2020-21 season.
Despite Jones's improvement towards the end of the 2022-23 season, his '17' is by no means untouchable, but a couple of alternative and available numbers immediately jump out, including the newly-vacant number eight.
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Naby Keita's exit means that the '8' is awaiting its next taker, and with Mac Allister taking the 10 jersey upon his arrival, Szoboszlai could have a clear run at the shirt that was donned by Gerrard for 11 years between 2004 and 2015.
Liverpool are also without a number nine following Roberto Firmino's departure, but that shirt will surely be reserved for a centre-forward, while the 12, 15 and 16 jerseys are also awaiting their next owners.
Szoboszlai was briefly an occupant of the 16 shirt at Red Bull Salzburg, who subsequently upgraded him to the '14', but Jordan Henderson has had a firm grip on that jersey for Liverpool since 2011.
While Szoboszlai has been Hungary's number 10 for the past several years, that jersey is now in the possession of his fellow new boy Mac Allister at Anfield, and few Reds fans would be surprised to see the 22-year-old follow in the footsteps of Gerrard and co to become Liverpool's new number eight.
Ben Knapton
