Dominik Szoboszlai says the disagreement involving Liverpool team-mates Curtis Jones and Kostas Tsimikas over the captain’s armband has been resolved, insisting: “Everything is clear and everything is fine.”
The incident took place after Liverpool’s 1-0 pre-season friendly win against Wrexham at Yankee Stadium in New York last week.
As the Liverpool squad walked across the pitch to greet supporters after the final whistle, Jones and Szoboszlai became involved in a discussion before Tsimikas joined them. During the match, Szoboszlai had handed the armband to Tsimikas rather than Jones when he was substituted.
The Greece left-back was later filmed appearing to throw the armband to the ground during the exchange.
Szoboszlai wore the captain’s armband again in Liverpool’s 4-2 defeat by Leeds last Sunday and passed it to Jones when he left the field.
The Hungary captain played down the disagreement when speaking to the media in Chicago before Liverpool’s return to the United Kingdom.
“It wasn’t a discussion between the three of us. We just discussed something on the pitch. Afterwards, you (the media) made it bigger,” he said.
“But next time we’ll be able to solve it in the dressing room. Nobody was angry with anyone else. Everything is clear and everything is fine.”
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk was absent from the club’s United States tour, while Joe Gomez was injured in the opening match, meaning Szoboszlai led the team for most of the trip.
The midfielder also said there had been no conversation with new manager Andoni Iraola about who should become vice-captain, a position left vacant following Andy Robertson’s move to Tottenham Hotspur.
“No, there has been no discussion. Obviously, we have Virgil as captain. We have Alisson. We have Joe Gomez,” Szoboszlai said, as reported by BBC.
“So there has been no discussion at all. Obviously, Alisson is not here and Joe is injured. It was a big proud moment, and we will see. It is not in my hands. It has not been decided yet.”
Szoboszlai added that he would welcome the opportunity if he was offered the role.
“If you are offered the vice-captaincy at Liverpool, you would accept it. It would be a proud moment for me,” he said.
“But I respect everyone, so either way, whoever takes the position, we will follow him.”
The midfielder said he was looking forward to the new campaign and could not wait for the season to begin.
“I feel we are ready to go again, and we will take motivation from last season because it was not the best,” he said.
“We did not reach what we wanted, so we will try again.”
Szoboszlai was also asked about Liverpool’s possible recruitment before the start of the season. He said decisions about signings were not his responsibility, but that the squad would welcome any player brought in by the club’s officials and manager.
“It is not my job to tell you who we should sign or whether we should sign a player,” he said.
“If the officials and the manager decide to sign a player, we will be happy and welcome him. If they decide not to sign anyone, then we will have to do something special with this team.”
