So there was little surprise when newly-promoted Ipswich stumped up a reported fee of £9m to add him to their squad for a first top-flight season in 22 years.
Szmodics’ lifelong target was to play just one game in the Premier League, but he was content to sit on the bench for the visit of Liverpool to Portman Road on the opening day, given he had barely trained with his new team-mates since the move.
That dream was realised when he came on as a 74th-minute substitute for Axel Tuanzebe – and things got more surreal from there.
He scored seven minutes into a trip to Man City on his first league start for Ipswich, before an overhead kick away at Tottenham helped the Tractor Boys to their first win – which he celebrated with Ed Sheeran.
Ipswich’s Sam Szmodics recalls the day he scored an overhead kick at Tottenham Hotspur, then celebrated with singer and Tractor Boys fan Ed Sheeran
“I got a taxi straight to international duty after and I couldn’t believe that had just happened,” he tells Sky Sports. “It was a pinch-me moment.”
But just as Szmodics had started to settle, the rug was ripped from beneath him.
“I was finding my feet, playing in a new position, scoring goals, really enjoying football,” he recalls.
“My perception quickly changed with regards to how big the Premier League actually is. You can’t really comment on it until you’ve played in it. When you watch it on the telly sometimes, it looks slow, but the pace of the game is so quick.
“Touch wood I never really get injured, but I had just scored against Fulham [on January 5], then I went in for a tackle with Calvin Bassey. Afterwards, my ankle was so swollen and just didn’t feel right.
“I went for a scan and it showed every ligament was intact, so I recovered, came back for the Coventry FA Cup game [on February 8] and it blew up again.
“As soon as I ran on the pitch at Old Trafford on my first game back [on February 26], I felt something completely go. I got a scan the next morning and my deltoid ligament in my left ankle had completely snapped and pulled a bit of bone off.
“I went to see the specialist and ended up needing an operation, which was frustrating as nothing could’ve been done up until that.”
Across the season, Szmodics missed 16 Premier League games, including 10 of the last 11, a run in which Ipswich picked up only five points on the way to relegation on April 26.
Had he not been sidelined, he believes he could have played a part in a different outcome.
“It’s frustrating not playing in any league, but I’d worked so hard to get to the Premier League, so to get an injury like that, not score as many goals or play as many games as I’d have liked was really frustrating.
“I had a target for a certain amount of goals and I think I would’ve achieved that because I was starting to find my feet and really enjoy it. It takes you a while to get used to the pace and the level of the Premier League and I feel like I found it.
“I’ve got to count myself lucky to be a 28, 29-year-old to have made it there, scored there – and my kids seeing me play there was enough for me. But I hope I get an opportunity to do that again.”
He did return to action on the final day of the season against West Ham, but this summer was all about getting that ankle right ahead of the new Championship season
“Even when I came back and was striking the ball, it still wasn’t right,” Szmodics adds. “I was relying heavily on strappings.
“Where they’d pulled the ligament through the bone, the scar was on the inside of the ankle, so every time I made contact with the ball it was really sore. The only way we could get through that was with deep massage and strapping.
“I also worked on getting the stability back in my ankle as I was still getting problems when I was turning and pushing off the ankle.
“Touch wood now I’ve done everything, I’ve got my fitness back and the ankle’s brand new.”
Highlights of the Carabao Cup first round tie between Bromley and Ipswich
Szmodics – who was reinvented as a left winger last term – started in the No 10 role on the opening night of the season, when Ipswich snuck a late point from a 1-1 draw with Birmingham at St Andrews. He played 20 minutes and scored in the penalty shoot-out as Kieran McKenna’s side were shocked by League Two Bromley on Tuesday night, too.
As favourites for the title, they have targets on their backs.
“We know we’re a good team and I think it will be very disappointing if we’re not up there,” he says. “Everyone knows that; we haven’t got to put that added pressure on ourselves.
“We know, if we work hard, we work together, we put in the performances we put in in the Premier League in the Championship, we’ll be absolutely fine.
“It’s just not putting too much pressure on yourself and not looking too far ahead. Not looking at who we’ve got in January, where we’re going to be in February.
Simeon Gholam and David Prutton look ahead to Ipswich vs Southampton on the Sky Sports Essential EFL podcast
“Of course there’s pressure from the outside, everyone’s expecting us to bounce straight back up, but if we do our jobs daily, we’ll be absolutely fine and we’ll let the football take care of itself.
“We won’t listen to that outside noise, but we’ve got to take confidence from it as well. Let’s go and put on a show and be the best team in the league. I think we’ve got a really good Premier League team, let alone a Championship team.
“Everyone’s desperate to get back to the Premier League, so we’ve got to do all we can to do that.”
He signs off with one last message: “I’d pay serious money to get 27 goals in the Champ like I did at Blackburn!”
If he picks up where he left off in the second tier, he may not have to wait long to get a second bite of the Premier League cherry.
Watch Ipswich vs Southampton in the Sky Bet Championship live on Sky Sports Football from 11am on Sunday; kick-off 12pm.
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