Dominik Szoboszlai has spoken about his position at Liverpool, his dream under Andoni Iraola and the impact of the death of Diogo Jota
Dominik Szoboszlai of Liverpool
Dominik Szoboszlai of Liverpool(Image: Jack Thomas/Getty Images)
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Dominik Szoboszlai admits he has "too much ego" and is driven by the desire to prove people wrong - while hinting he is ready to be Liverpool's right-back once again this season.
Szoboszlai was the Reds' outstanding performer during a difficult last campaign in which Champions League qualification was not enough to spare head coach Arne Slot from being sacked.
The Hungary international was pressed into service as an emergency right-back for spells as Liverpool grappled with an injury crisis in the position.
And while adamant he is primarily a box-to-box midfielder, Szoboszlai remains open-minded over his position in the Reds team and has detailed the role critics play in motivating him.
"I could easily say 'I don’t want to play full-back; either you put me in midfield, or I’m not playing'," he said. "But I don’t do that because I want to help my team however I can. It's a team sport.
"Ultimately, I want to win, no matter where I’m asked to play. Some might say you’re perhaps too nice... I’m a team player. I’m not too nice, believe me!
"But I have too much ego; the more people try to tell me I won't succeed, the more I take a perverse pleasure in proving them wrong. That's why I have so much love for the people sitting on their sofas talking s**t about me."
Szoboszlai added: "Honestly, moving from midfield to full-back really isn’t difficult. In midfield, you need a panoramic view because the play - and the opponents - can come from anywhere, whereas at full-back, it’s pretty binary: if there’s no one in front of me, I’m free; if there’s an opponent, I’m not. Simple.
"But my preferred position is box-to-box midfielder, because I have every option: playing short or long, running with the ball, making runs off the ball, shooting from distance, or dropping in closer."
Talks are ongoing between Liverpool and Szoboszlai over an improved long-term contract, with the 25-year-old - who has two years remaining on his current deal - making clear his targets under new head coach Andoni Iraola.
"As a child, I always dreamed of winning the Champions League - probably even more than winning the Premier League," he said. "But now that I’ve had a taste of it, I absolutely want to win the Premier League again because 2025 was just incredible.
"I’m convinced we can compete (in the Champions League), and I’m hopeful that with the new manager Andoni Iraola we’ll move in the right direction. And then, of course, I dream of playing in the World Cup one day."
In a wide-ranging interview with France Football, Szoboszlai was asked which was his true self when his flamboyant off-field persona was compared to a more prosaic approach on the pitch.
"I’d say both sides make up Dominik Szoboszlai," he said. "It’s just that I know when to switch modes. On the pitch, my mindset is all about streamlined efficiency - focusing on my job and the tasks I need to carry out - while off the pitch, I like to add a little extra flair."
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When told he tended not to showboat, Szoboszlai added: "Those 'joga bonito' type skills are for show; in my opinion, they have nothing to do with football. It’s nice when people do them, but I never lose sight of the fact that football is too competitive not to do everything possible to achieve a professional player's true goal: winning the match.
"That’s the only way I think - you have to win. We play in such highly competitive leagues that there’s no room for skills designed merely to entertain the crowd.
"I know that last year, when we won the Premier League with Liverpool - the toughest league on the planet - our midfield ran the show, and without that, we wouldn't have been champions. But ultimately, who was the superstar of that title win? Mo Salah. Because we all did our utmost to put him in the best possible position to make the difference.
"I believe you always have to look at things through one question: what is best for the team? For instance, you could define a star player by their ability to make the difference all on their own. In that case, I’m a star too. But rest assured, I don’t put myself in the same category as Mbappe, Haaland, Lamine Yamal, or Vinicius right now, because I haven’t reached that level yet."
Szoboszlai also reflected on the impact of the death 12 months ago of Diogo Jota on the Liverpool squad, and claimed the players had not collectively spoken about the impact of the tragedy.
"It was incredibly hard for everyone because Diogo Jota was one of those players who always gave everything for the team," he said.
"At the start of the season, we used that trauma as motivation, but it was a heavy burden to bear. Personally, I gave it my all throughout the season because I told myself that was what he would have wanted from each of us.
"But it was really difficult, because I think everyone was asking themselves 'why did something like this happen to someone like him?'. That sense of bewilderment - struggling to wrap our heads around what had happened - was hard to process.
"The thing is, we never actually talked about it among ourselves. Everyone kept their feelings about the tragedy to themselves, and I don't know if that was a good thing because none of us was able to share what we were going through with the rest of the group. I don't know what we should have done; we'll never know."