Liverpool are searching for a new captain for the first time in eight years after Jordan Henderson confirmed his departure to Al-Ettifaq in Saudi Arabia.
With Jurgen Klopp‘s men in Premier League action on August 13, there is little time for soul-searching and a successor must be appointed quickly.
While there is a strong harmony in the Reds’ squad, it is important for any club to appoint the right captain, particularly in a global age when they represent the club to so many and have to traverse a politicised sporting landscape.
The candidates lining up are already Liverpool icons, and one of them will be captain, with the other taking up James Milner’s vice-captaincy role.
Mail Sport assesses the credentials of Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson, Mo Salah, and Alisson.
The summer departure of Jordan Henderson has left Liverpool needing to find a new captain
1. Virgil van Dijk
Virgil van Dijk is the obvious choice to succeed Henderson as captain, having been third in line behind Henderson and Milner.
The Dutchman has already captained the Reds on 43 occasions, is the skipper of the Netherlands national team, and is a consummate professional fit for the role.
Ever since he scored a late headed winner on his debut against Everton in 2018, Van Dijk and Liverpool have felt like a perfect marriage.
His composure, quality, consistency, and experience mark out the 32-year-old as the ideal man to lead the team out at Anfield.
The way he deals with the media, fans, and the community, always respectful and conscientious, adds to his credentials as a suitable ambassador.
Van Dijk fills his time outside football with charity projects where he can. He has been a major supporter of the Owen McVeigh Foundation, a Liverpudlian charity which supports children with cancer.
Composed, reliable, and authoritative: Virgil van Dijk is the obvious man to inherit the role
This is a man who loves the city, understands how to engage with the fans, and has been crucial to Liverpool’s success in recent years.
In an interview with Mail Sport, Liverpool fan Adebayo Akinfenwa said that Van Dijk has ‘Beast Mode’ about him, and we’d be inclined to agree.
Over 222 games in a Liverpool shirt, he has been sensational, with Vincent Kompany even labelling him the best Premier League defender ever.
He has, in the last couple of seasons, looked shaky on occasion. Mistakes have leaked into his previously impeccable game. He admitted as much in an interview with The Times.
‘I know my performance has been going like the team has been going — up and down,’ he said.
‘I know I’m one of the players who is looked at, that I set a high standard over the last five years that it’s normal to be criticised. The only thing I can do is block the noise out and focus on how I deal with certain situations to be better.’
His form is inextricably linked to Liverpool’s form to a point of dependency on him. He shoulders the burden well and should be the club’s next captain.
The Dutchman is an effective communicator and leads by example on and off the field
2. Trent Alexander-Arnold
Trent Alexander-Arnold was voted into Liverpool’s leadership group by his fellow players in 2021 and has only matured further since then.
It is surprising to think that the 24-year-old is going into his eighth season with the Reds and he will soon smash the 300 appearances barrier if he stays fit and on form.
Already he has established himself as a Liverpool legend having won it all and been at the centre of their success.
The fondness and awe in which he is held is hard to express. His mural at the corner of Sybil Road and Anfield Road bears the words that many local kids grow up with hoping to say one day: ‘I’m just a normal lad from Liverpool whose dream has just come true’.
His relatability, humility, and approachability show that he has not lost his roots and when Steven Gerrard left, he picked up the ‘resident Scouser’ mantle with all the enthusiasm that fans wanted.
He may have his detractors for his defensive frailties, but a new-found midfield role could revitalise his performances.
If he can capture anything near the form of the 2019-19 season, when his 12 assists was the most a defender had ever registered in a Premier League campaign, he will be thriving.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is the player with the greatest connection to the city and young fans
Even if he is not made captain on this occasion, or vice-captain, few would put it past him to wear the armband for Liverpool one day.
For added measure, he was the great mind behind one of the most legendary goals in Champions League history, setting up Divock Origi for that goal against Barcelona that would send the Reds to the Champions League final.
In ‘Intensity: Inside Liverpool FC’, by assistant manager Pep Lijnders, he receives the highest praise.
‘Even at the age of 15, he was this natural technical talent,’ Lijnders wrote. ‘He had all the characteristics I loved: a mentality to win, passionate to improve – but his emotions sometimes took control instead of him taking control over the emotions.
‘He trained with so much power and competition. He grew step-by-step into the wonderful guy he is now, surrounded by a lovely family, he created this superb personality.
‘I still see the same fire in his eyes in each training session, but I don’t see this young guy anymore; I see a leader, I see someone who controls his emotions, a future captain. A leader by example.’
His quick thinking against Barcelona encapsulated his daring playing style and made history
3. Andy Robertson
Andy Robertson is captain of the Scottish national team and part of Liverpool’s senior leadership group.
When he arrived from Hull for £4m in 2017, he joined a bloodline of great Scots at Anfield – Tommy Lawrence, Billy Liddell, Ian St. John, Ron Yeats, Sir Kenny Dalglish, Alan Hansen, Graeme Souness, Steve Nicol, and Gary McAllister, to name a few. Now he is a titan in the club’s history just as they were.
You can tell in the way that Robertson interacts with his team-mates that he has the support of the dressing room, that he gets on with everybody, and that he is an inspiring and encouraging figure to be around.
He sacrifices everything on the pitch for the football club and, though not as freewheeling on the wing as his counterpart, ‘Robbo’ is still a mightily impressive creator – he managed 11 assists 2018-19, trailing Alexander-Arnold by just one.
Earlier this year, he opened up on the specific roles the various ‘leaders’ at Liverpool bring.
He described himself in saying ‘I can help the younger players and things like that.’
Andy Robertson is a light-hearted personality who can make others feel valued in the group
The Scotland captain wears his heart on his sleeve and is a likely option for vice-captain
He added: ‘Trent is a bit more new to it. He’s still young but is also a leader in every way. Every young lad that comes up looks at Trent and thinks “I want to follow his career path”.
‘He is the poster boy for the academy. He sets standards the way he goes about his business, the way he plays, his attitude, his mentality and if I’m a young lad he’s a perfect person to look at, the way he conducts himself off the pitch as well.’
With 267 outings for the Reds, Liverpool’s prankster-in-chief is a stalwart in the side, has flourishing relationships with his team-mates, and is a good bet to be the club’s next vice-captain.
4. Mo Salah
Though not officially part of Liverpool’s leadership group, Mo Salah is captain of Egypt and arguably the most talismanic figure Liverpool have.
Robertson has said in the past that ‘Mo is one of the biggest leaders in our changing room without being in the leadership group. He helps us all. He sets standards by being one of the best players in the world.’
That is the point with Mo Salah. In his first Premier League campaign, he was peerless. Ever since, he has consistently been one of the league’s best players, able to change a game in an instant, produce the extraordinary, startle opposition and send the crowd into a frenzy.
Ask a Liverpool fan who their favourite player is, and for so many, he is the only answer.
Mo Salah has 186 goals for Liverpool and leads by example with inspiring performances
Though not part of Liverpool’s leadership group, he has captained Egypt successfully
The captaincy also matters deeply to Salah.
When Alexander-Arnold was given the honour against Midtjylland in 2020, he said he was ‘very disappointed’ not to be made captain as the more senior player.
‘I was expecting to be the captain,’ he said. ‘But it’s the manager’s decision, so I accept it.’
The vision of Salah as a deferential, unassuming, happy-go-lucky character perhaps contradicts the regular notion of a captain.
Salah is not a hard-nosed figure, and can often come across quite individual on the pitch, opting to take on herculean dribbles of his own instead of moving the ball on.
That said, there is little doubt that he is the most talented of the lot and for that he commands immense respect.
He is an outside shout for the captaincy, but expect him to play a big leadership role now that Henderson is gone.
The forward always pushes himself to the maximum to ensure he is on top form for the club
Alisson
Alisson is part of the senior leadership team and has captained Liverpool on a couple of occasions in the past.
Like Van Dijk, the Brazilian arrived as a piece of the puzzle that the club needed when he landed on English shores in 2018, helping them to emerge from the error-strewn abyss that years of Brad Jones, Simon Mignolet, and Loris Karius had represented.
The 30-year-old can be erratic with his daring dribbles and positioning but he is the most reliable pair of hands the Kop has seen since the days of Pepe Reina.
He celebrated his 100th clean sheet for the club last season, and though he is the biggest outsider for the captaincy on the list, his team-mates only have positive things to say about him.
Alisson is an authoritative presence and the bedrock that allows Liverpool to be confident
Van Dijk has called the Brazilian as a big leader in the group but he is an outsider for skipper
Van Dijk said about him: ‘That’s the biggest quality: how he is as a person, how important he is for the group. On the pitch, his qualities are there to see: the contribution, the saves, the leadership. It’s very important but outside of the pitch he’s just as important with the qualities he has.
‘He’s a big, big leader in the group. He’s someone who a lot of players look up to. He’s an example to a lot of players as well, especially goalkeepers. I’m very glad that he’s my goalkeeper.’
Alisson empowers Liverpool to play out from the back, take risks with sending defenders forward, play with a high line, and trust the man between the sticks to save them in their most desperate moments.
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