Virgil van Dijk isn't waiting to see how the season unfolds before deciding who leads Liverpool next. The captain has already made up his mind: Dominik Szoboszlai is the man who takes the armband when he's done.
"He will be here to take over," Van Dijk said after Sunday's 2-2 draw at Newcastle — a match Szoboszlai salvaged with a penalty in the 99th minute. Not bad timing to make your case for a leadership role.
Szoboszlai is now one of three vice-captains alongside Alisson Becker and Joe Gomez. But Van Dijk's comments aren't routine captaincy admin. They're a deliberate signal about where Liverpool's long-term leadership is headed — and the Hungarian's new contract extension makes it structural, not speculative.
A squad in transition, a captain staying calm
The backdrop here matters. Robertson, Salah, Curtis Jones, Ibrahima Konate — they're all gone. Manager Andoni Iraola has already admitted options are "quite thin." Liverpool drew with Newcastle after going behind twice. This is not a team that looks fully assembled.
And yet Van Dijk is refusing to panic, publicly at least. "We are Liverpool and we have to give everything," he said. "I fully trust the club and the board to make the right decisions."
That trust is being tested. Bradley Barcola remains the primary wide target, with PSG holding firm at around £145 million. Brighton have knocked back two bids for Yankuba Minteh, demanding £70 million. The window closes September 1. Liverpool have added Jeremy Jacquet, Victor Munoz, and Ronald Araujo on loan from Barcelona — a reasonable haul, but not one that screams title ambition just yet.
Until those wide positions are addressed, Liverpool's attacking odds deserve some skepticism. They were level at 2-2 at St James' Park only because of a last-gasp penalty. That's not a blueprint.
What Szoboszlai's penalty actually proved
Step back from the captaincy conversation for a second and just look at what Szoboszlai did. Ninety-nine minutes in. Newcastle's crowd. Match on the line. He stepped up and drilled it.
Van Dijk called it "quite a high-tension penalty" — which is underselling it considerably. That's the kind of moment that separates leaders from passengers. Szoboszlai has now captained Hungary at international level, signed a long-term deal at Anfield, and just earned his manager a point he probably didn't deserve.
"He took plenty already and he scored plenty," Van Dijk said. "Not a bad hit."
No. Not a bad hit at all.
