Szoboszlai plays down Liverpool armband footage after Wrexham win

Dominik Szoboszlai says the disagreement involving Liverpool team-mates Curtis Jones and Kostas Tsimikas after their pre-season match against Wrexham has been resolved.

Footage emerged last week appearing to show the trio arguing about the captain’s armband following Liverpool’s 1-0 victory at Yankee Stadium in New York.

After the final whistle, Jones and Szoboszlai were involved in a discussion as Liverpool’s players walked across the pitch to acknowledge the supporters. Tsimikas then joined the exchange.

During the game, Szoboszlai handed the armband to Tsimikas rather than Jones when he was substituted. In the footage of the argument, the Greece left-back appeared to throw the armband to the ground.

Szoboszlai passed the armband to Jones during Liverpool’s 4-2 defeat by Leeds last Sunday.

The Hungary captain said the incident had been exaggerated by the media and insisted there was no bad feeling between the players.

“It wasn’t a discussion between the three of us. We just discussed something on the pitch. Then you guys [the media] made it bigger. But next time we will be able to solve it in the dressing room. No-one was angry with anyone. Everything is clear, everything is fine.”

With regular captain Virgil van Dijk absent from Liverpool’s United States tour and Joe Gomez injured in the opening match, Szoboszlai led the side for much of the trip.

He also said new manager Andoni Iraola had not yet spoken to the players about the vacant vice-captaincy role. The position became available after Andy Robertson left for Tottenham Hotspur.

“No, there was no discussion. Obviously we have Virgil as captain. We have Alisson. We have Joe Gomez. So there was no discussion at all. Obviously Alisson is not here and Joe is injured. It was a big moment of pride, and let’s see. It is not up to me. It is not decided yet,” Szoboszlai said, as quoted by the BBC.

The midfielder added that he would welcome the opportunity if he were offered the role, while making clear he would support whoever was appointed.

“If you are offered the position of vice-captain at Liverpool, you would accept it. It would be a big moment of pride for me. But I respect everyone, so either way, whoever takes the position, we will follow them.”

Szoboszlai was speaking to the media in Chicago shortly before Liverpool’s return to the United Kingdom. He said he was eager for the new campaign to begin and believed the squad was prepared to improve on the previous season.

“I can’t wait for the new season,” he said.

“I feel like we are ready to go again, and we will take motivation from last season because it was not the best. We did not reach what we wanted, so we will try again.”

Szoboszlai also said decisions over possible new signings were not his responsibility. He added that the squad would welcome any player brought in by the club’s officials and manager, but would have to produce something special with the current group if no further additions were made.

“It is not my job to tell you who we should sign or whether we should sign any players. If the people in charge and the manager decide to sign someone, we will be happy and welcome them. If they decide not to sign anyone, then we will have to do something special with this team.”