Szoboszlai Signs New Liverpool Contract – Future Captain?

Dominik Szoboszlai has nailed his colours firmly to the Liverpool mast, signing a new contract that keeps him at Anfield until 2031 and slamming the door on mounting transfer talk, including links with Real Madrid.

At 25, this is the commitment of a player convinced his prime years belong on Merseyside. Liverpool clearly agree.

From Leipzig prospect to Anfield mainstay

Since arriving from RB Leipzig in 2023, Szoboszlai has grown from exciting import to central pillar. Three seasons, 154 appearances, 31 goals. Not just numbers, but moments – plenty of them spectacular, the kind that rattle crossbars and crowd noise in equal measure.

His versatility has been a manager’s dream. Right, left, central, deeper, higher – wherever Liverpool have needed a spark, Szoboszlai has been pushed into the frame and rarely looked out of place.

For Hungary, he already wears the armband. At Liverpool, he is steadily becoming the player others look to when the tempo dips or the standard slips.

Echoes of Nedved, whispers of Gerrard

It is not just Liverpool supporters who see something special. Szoboszlai has drawn comparisons with Ballon d'Or winner Pavel Nedved, a nod to his relentless work, his running power, and that blend of graft and guile that defined the Czech great.

Vladimir Smicer, the 2005 Champions League winner and fellow Czech, sees those same traits in Liverpool’s No.8. He played alongside Steven Gerrard at his peak; he knows what a true leader at Anfield looks like.

And he believes Szoboszlai is heading in that direction.

Smicer, speaking to GOAL in association with Grosvenor Sport, was asked outright if Szoboszlai could succeed Virgil van Dijk as Liverpool captain when the Dutch defender’s contract expires next summer.

His answer was clear: “Will Dominik Szoboszlai succeed Virgil van Dijk to become the next captain of Liverpool? One day, yes. I can see it.”

He did not pretend the path is identical to Gerrard’s. It can’t be. “It’s difficult to compare him as a player and as a captain to Steven Gerrard because Stevie G was grounded in Liverpool. He grew up in Liverpool. There was always that connection between the club, the city, the fans and Stevie G. It was something very special. Even the players in the Liverpool dressing room felt that and knew how it worked.”

But Smicer sees a trajectory. “Szobo has been at Liverpool for three years and Stevie G spent his whole life at Liverpool but he’s on the right path to follow in Stevie’s footsteps, and I think Stevie loves to watch Szobo play for Liverpool. If one day we say that Szobo is Stevie G’s successor, I don’t think he would be against that.”

The next captain?

That is the crux of Liverpool’s next era. Someone will have to pick up the armband when Van Dijk moves on. The club’s current No.8 has the profile, the presence, and now the contract to be that man.

He already leads his country. He drives Liverpool’s press, demands the ball, sets a tone. The more he grows into that role, the less far-fetched it sounds that he could be the one walking the team out at Anfield in the not-too-distant future.

Chasing legacy, not just trophies

Matching Gerrard’s popularity is another matter. That bond between a local hero and a local crowd is almost impossible to replicate. Szoboszlai knows he will never be “one of their own” in the same way.

But he does not need to be Gerrard to become a modern great.

If he does take the armband and lifts major silverware in red, the conversation will change. Liverpool have started the 2026-27 season unbeaten, shaping a campaign that already feels loaded with possibility in both domestic and European competition.

A long-term contract signed. A team on the rise. A captaincy soon to be vacated.

Szoboszlai is no longer just Liverpool’s future. He is being positioned, very deliberately, at the heart of what comes next.