Dominik Szoboszlai names Liverpool senior player he's become close to after Trent Alexander-Arnold friendship

Dominik Szoboszlai has admitted his barnstorming start to his Liverpool career has meant he may be the victim of his own success.

The midfielder joined the Reds from RB Leipzig for £60 million last summer. Szoboszlai made a blistering opening to his Anfield career and needed little time to adapt to the demands of the Premier League. However, performances have dipped somewhat in recent months, while he was sidelined for 10 games with a recurring hamstring injury.

Overall, a total of seven goals and four assists in 43 appearances represents a decent return for Szoboszlai in his maiden Liverpool campaign. And speaking to MLSZ TV, he insists that he blocks out external criticism - and only listens to Jurgen Klopp, the Reds’ coaching staff and his father.

“Perhaps I set the bar too high because I think there were certain matches where I couldn’t bring out the best in myself.

“Or there are times when you don’t play well and in some people’s eyes you’re the worst player on the pitch, but it is not a problem because we get through these things together. The [Premier League] is quicker, here you don’t have as much time to think as in the Bundesliga.

“I accept critiques of my play from (my father) and from my coaches, too. So these two or three people are the ones I’m always ready to listen to.

“Naturally, that goes for an older player, too. If there’s one in the team who tries to help, not necessarily in regard to things that shouldn’t be done that way but rather that I should focus on certain aspects of my football life and not just those to do with games but also aspects such as what I do before, during and after training.

“Here, you really need to know what you’d like to do with the ball before you receive it because if you don’t, you pretty much have no chance.”

Szoboszlai swiftly struck up a friendship with Liverpool vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold after arriving on Merseyside. The pair are of a similar age and are regarded as the Reds’ best ball-strikers.

But the Hungary captain revealed that as he settled into life at Anfield, Mo Salah is someone he’s also grown close to. Szoboszlai added: “At the start, it was Trent and it still is him, but as I’ve settled into the team, I can say it’s (Mohamed) Salah too. I’ve found common ground with everyone, so I can talk with everyone. Everyone gets on well with each other and although there aren’t many group events, when there is, everyone is there.”