Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has stated that any recent on-field disagreements with teammates Curtis Jones and Kostas Tsimikas regarding the captain's armband have been settled. A video circulated last week showing the three players in a discussion after Liverpool's pre-season win against Wrexham at Yankee Stadium in New York.
During that match, Szoboszlai, who captained the team in the absence of Virgil van Dijk and due to Joe Gomez's injury, passed the armband to Tsimikas when substituted. Tsimikas was later seen throwing the armband on the ground. In a subsequent match, a 4-2 defeat to Leeds, Szoboszlai gave the armband to Jones.
"It was never a debate between us three," Szoboszlai told reporters. "We just discussed something on the pitch. Which actually, after, you guys [the media] make it very big. But next time we will manage to do it in the changing room. Nobody was angry at no-one. It's all cleared - we are cool."
With regular captain Virgil van Dijk absent for the United States tour and Joe Gomez injured, Szoboszlai wore the captain's armband for a significant portion of the trip. He also commented on the upcoming decision for the vice-captaincy following Andy Robertson's departure. New manager Andoni Iraola has not yet discussed the role.
"No, there hasn't been any conversation," Szoboszlai said. "Obviously we have Virgil as the captain. We have Ali [Alisson]. We have Joe Gomez. So there was no conversation at all. Obviously Ali is not here and Joe is injured. It was a very proud moment to have it and let's see. It's not my choice. It's not fixed. If you get offered the vice-captaincy at Liverpool, you're going to take it. It would be a proud moment for me. But I respect everybody, so either way, whoever it's going to be we're going to follow them."
Looking ahead to the new season, Szoboszlai expressed enthusiasm. "I feel we are ready to go again and take motivation from the last season, because it was not the best," he said. "We didn't end up where we wanted to, so now we're going to go for it again."
Regarding potential new signings, Szoboszlai deferred to management. "It's not my job to tell you who we have to sign or if we have to sign someone. If the guys above and the manager decide to sign someone, we are very happy and will welcome them. If they decide not to, then we have to do something special with this squad."