There is something quietly impressive about a man who captains his country yet walks into his club's dressing room and simply gets in line. That is exactly the attitude Dominik Szoboszlai is carrying into what promises to be a significant season for Liverpool under new manager Andoni Iraola.

In a wide-ranging interview with France Football, the 25-year-old addressed the elephant in the room that has been hovering over Anfield since Andy Robertson's departure: who steps up as vice-captain? Iraola has that particular task on his to-do list as he settles into life on Merseyside, and Szoboszlai's name has been mentioned as a natural candidate given his international pedigree as Hungary's skipper. But the man himself is refreshingly measured about the whole thing.

"Actually it's simpler than it looks," Szoboszlai said about respecting the existing pecking order at Liverpool. "It happens quite naturally. Everyone realises that Virgil is the leader period. It's a matter of intelligence and maturity, and in that regard, Liverpool has an exceptional squad."

That is not false modesty. That is a player who understands the room. Virgil van Dijk's authority at this club is not something you challenge or work around — it is something you work with. Szoboszlai gets that, and the fact he is openly saying so before pre-season has even begun tells you plenty about where his head is at.

But what really stands out from his comments is the wider point he makes about leadership legitimacy. This is not a man scrambling for an armband. He is laying out a philosophy.

"If a step up to the leadership group is going to happen, it can only come with time. There's a process involved; it's not something you can just demand. You have to earn it, and that starts on the pitch — with excellence, consistency, and impeccable conduct. Only then do you start guiding other players, especially the new ones. That's when the question of leadership legitimacy arises — never before."

Read that back. That is a remarkably thoughtful statement from a footballer entering his fourth season at the club. He is not politicking. He is not dropping hints for the manager's benefit. He is articulating a genuine understanding of how genuine leadership works — and that is, frankly, more reassuring than any armband.

He even contextualises the competition for that kind of influence within the squad. "Even with all those factors in place, there's no guarantee you'll become captain, because beyond Virgil, there are easily eight or nine other leaders." That is a squad that knows itself, and a player who knows his place within it — in the best possible sense.

Elsewhere in the interview, Szoboszlai opened up about his formative influences, and his answer was characteristically his own. Growing up, he did not model himself on anyone as a player — a conscious decision that speaks to a stubborn, admirable individualism.

"I wanted to be myself right from the start — nobody else. Because I realised very early on that there would only ever be one Zinédine Zidane, one Steven Gerrard, one Paul Pogba, one Lionel Messi, one Cristiano Ronaldo. You can't be the next one. You know the saying: 'Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.'"

The one exception? Not a playing style, but a mentality. He cited Cristiano Ronaldo — not for the way he plays, but for the relentless work ethic behind the career. "I read his book when I was young and watched videos of his training routines, that's what inspired me about him — far more than the way he played." It is a telling detail. The obsession was never with the goals or the glory, but with what it takes to be consistently excellent day after day. That is a mindset that fits perfectly with the demands of a new era at Anfield.

And a new era it genuinely is. Iraola signed a two-year deal to succeed Arne Slot last month, and Szoboszlai is due to report for pre-season training on Tuesday as the squad begins to gather under its new manager. The vice-captaincy question will not be resolved overnight, and Szoboszlai clearly would not have it any other way. The process, as he says, takes time.

What Iraola will see when his players walk through the door, though, is a man who leads Hungary, respects Van Dijk's authority without a flicker of ego, and believes in earning everything the hard way. Whether or not the armband follows, that kind of player tends to end up at the centre of things regardless.