At 34 years of age, Liverpool superstar Virgil van Dijk is still the best center back in the Premier League, and with all due respect to potential future Liverpool star Marc Guehi (as well as a couple of Tottenham Hotspur stars), there’s really no disputing that.
Van Dijk is still as good as ever in the 2025/26 season with only minimal signs of slowing down, if any at all. But at his age, Liverpool are already thinking about signing his heir in central defense, which is why they are going after Guehi – not just as an Ibrahima Konate replacement – and why they already signed Giovani Leoni in the summer 2025 window.
But Liverpool also have to replace Van Dijk’s leadership. When it comes to that aspect of finding the Dutchman’s heir, it looks like events of the 2025/26 season have already led Liverpool to a logical replacement.
According to a report from Gregg Evans of The Athletic, Liverpool are starting preliminary contract talks with center midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai with the intention of inking the Hungarian superstar to a new deal.
Szobo has been the team’s most consistent and best overall performer, especially in terms of all-around performance, so it’s no wonder why Liverpool want to keep him locked him for the foreseeable future.
But also, per Evans, Liverpool are thinking about making Szoboszlai their future captain once Van Dijk goes, whenever that would be, and anyone watching how he has transcended the game and led the pitch this season would agree that Szobo is the logical candidate to take the torch forward.
Joe Soriano is the editor of The Trivela Effect and a FanSided Hall of Famer who has covered world football since 2010. He’s led top digital communities like The Real Champs (Real Madrid) and has run sites covering Tottenham, Liverpool, Juventus, and Schalke. He also helped manage NFL Spin Zone and Daily DDT, covering the NFL and pro wrestling.