It may have been unintentional but Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is responsible for Dominik Szoboszlai's nickname in the Hungary camp at Euro 2024.
Back in November, the Spaniard spoke about the 23-year-old midfielder ahead of Liverpool's clash against City in the Premier League.
Szoboszlai, who joined the Reds from RB Leipzig last summer in a deal worth £60 million, hit the ground running with a string of impressive performances in the middle of the park.
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And in a press conference before the Premier League fixture at the Etihad, Guardiola praised Hungary's main man for his start to life at Liverpool.
After mentioning Salah as an attacking threat, he mentioned summer additions Ryan Gravenberch and Szoboszlai in his answer but while doing so, mispronounced the latter's name.
Seven months on and Szoboszlai is constantly reminded of the mispronunciation. In fact, he has been given the nickname "Svolzai" by his Hungary teammates.
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Speaking to ITV Sport ahead of Sunday's match against Scotland, the Liverpool opened up on the nickname.
He said: "Before a game against Manchester City, Guardiola didn't manage to say my name properly. He pronounced my name like, 'Svolzai'. I'll be called this for a while because Andras Shafer liked it a lot."
Szoboszlai, who became the youngest captain in the competition’s history when leading his country out for their Group A opener against Switzerland, impressed against Germany.
Brentford boss Thomas Frank was full of praise for the midfielder at half-time.
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“Fantastic first half for him. Everything is going through him,” he told BBC Sport in his role as a pundit. “For me his all round game – he is intercepting a pass, his dynamic runs in general have been fantastic."
He added: “Another thing I like is that it looks like Szoboszlai needs to close down Kroos when he can, which is helping Hungary. He has that quality. He is the star man. Everything so far is coming from him.”
Hungary currently sit bottom of Group A after losing to Switzerland and Germany. They face Scotland on Sunday at the Stuttgart Arena.
Topics: Pep Guardiola, Manchester City, Liverpool, Premier League, Dominik Szoboszlai, Euro 2024