Jurgen Klopp yet to choose captain after Jordan Henderson’s Liverpool exit this summer
Jurgen Klopp claimed that he wanted to keep Jordan Henderson at Liverpool this summer but couldn’t prevent his transfer to Al-Ettifaq. Given he was our captain for eight years, it was clear his leadership was valued a lot here.
The Saudi Pro League club are managed by Steven Gerrard and he has signed ‘Hendo’ from Anfield in a bid to bring a familiar face in his dressing room. That, and the England international is one of the most hard-working midfielders around.
The Reds have pocketed £12million plus add-ons from their captain’s sale. His exit has left Liverpool without a skipper ahead of the new season.
But our gaffer has apparently decided who the next skipper will be. The German tactician said at a presser in Singapore ahead of the friendly against Leicester City on Sunday, via BBC:
Who will it be?
“I know already my decision but I have to tell it first to the players before I speak in public about it. I didn’t expect to have that situation a few weeks ago that I have to think about it.”
The choice could be between the two usual suspects — Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold. The Netherlands international (32) is one of our most experienced players now following Hendo and James Milner’s exits.
Alexander-Arnold (24), meanwhile, is one of our own. Having come up from the club’s youth academy and being a local boy, the England international is a great shot for the role considering he can don the armband for the next decade or so in the same manner as Steven Gerrard did.
The captain’s armband will just be a formality on the pitch. We all know VVD, Andrew Robertson, Alisson Becker and Mohamed Salah are all players who are experienced and can lead the team in important moments.
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But the player who becomes the new captain will have the responsibility of being the club’s face and the voice in the dressing room and on the pitch. When the going gets tough, Liverpool players will look to the captain. We will need a figure that inspires them to do the unthinkable and the impossible.
