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Arsenal transfer blow as RB Salzburg star Dominik Szoboszlai makes decision on next club
Arsenal are set to miss out on RB Salzburg attacking midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai.
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Arsenal are expected to miss out on Dominik Szoboszlai barring a late turn of events, with the Hungarian international now set to join RB Leipzig in January. Gunners chiefs have been tracking the 20-year-old for the past 18 months and nearly made their move earlier this summer, before securing a second loan deal with Real Madrid for Dani Ceballos.
Szoboszlai's stock has continued to rise at a drastic rate this season and he has become Salzburg's main man in their first full season without former attacking trio Erling Braut Haaland, Takumi Minamino and Hwang Hee-chan.
Arsenal were said to be one of several clubs in contention to prise the attacking midfielder away from Austria when the transfer window reopens but his future now looks to be resolved.
According to Sky Germany, Szoboszlai has chosen Leipzig as his next destination despite interest from across Europe.
Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan were amongst the other clubs in contention for his signature.
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He will now follow in the footsteps of the likes of former team-mate Hee-chan, Naby Keita, Dayot Upamecano, Amadou Haidara and Peter Gulacsi by making the move to Germany to Salzburg's sister club, Leipzig.
There is a close relationship between both boards and the sporting infrastructure is in place to help enable Leipzig to frequently cherrypick Salzburg's star players.
In Szoboszlai, they are landing one of the brightest and most productive young prospects in Europe.
His performance was praised by Jurgen Klopp in the corridors of the Red Bull Arena last December when Liverpool beat their Champions League group opponents 2-0 in Austria to secure qualification to the last 16.
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Szoboszlai has a release clause worth £22.5million and Arsenal were reportedly keen on paying that figure across three installments.
Now they are set to miss out on the Hungary international, who booked his nation's place at the European Championships in November with a stunning injury-time winner in the play-off against Iceland.
Arsenal are crying out for a player of his creativity, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang starved of service.
His agent recently took a swipe at Mikel Arteta's tactics, which appear to be hindering Aubameyang's strike rate in front of goal.
Salzburg boss Jesse Marsch recently explained that it would come as no surprise if he was to lose Szoboszlai in the January transfer window, telling Grant Wahl on his podcast: "He's an incredible talent, and I say this: When you coach young players, you have to love them and love the fact that they're going to move on and love that they're going to have big opportunities to prove themselves and show how good they are.
"If you're only worried about how it affects your success, then you're not really going to ever be effective at coaching and leading young people.
"So let's see what happens, but I would be surprised if he winds up staying past winter.
"We play with teenagers, and of course when they do well a lot of clubs get really excited."