Virgil van Dijk to captain Liverpool, Trent Alexander-Arnold named deputy
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Liverpool's Virgil van Dijk (centre) during the warm-up before the match against Leicester in Singapore.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Virgil van Dijk hailed a “proud day” after he was named as Liverpool’s new skipper, with fellow defender Trent Alexander-Arnold taking on the vice-captain’s role, the English Premier League club announced on Monday.
The 32-year-old van Dijk, who also leads the Netherlands national team, will replace Jordan Henderson after the England midfielder joined Saudi Pro League club Al-Ettifaq last week,
Van Dijk has made 222 appearances for the Merseyside giants since moving from then Premier League side Southampton in 2018.
“It’s a really proud day for me, for my wife, for my kids, my family. It’s been a special feeling and I can’t really describe it at this point. But it’s something that I’m really, really proud of,” the centre-back said.
“I will do everything in my power and what I can do to make everyone proud and happy with me and the football club.”
After narrowly missing out on an unprecedented quadruple in the 2021-22 season, winning two domestic Cups, Liverpool will not feature in the Champions League for the first time under Jurgen Klopp since the German manager’s first full season in 2016-17.
The Reds finished fifth last term and will play in the second-tier Europa League instead.
“We also have to be a bit patient, but we want to be there and we want to show what we’re capable of because we have a fantastic group of players, staff, fans, stadium. It’s all about doing it together with consistency and hopefully we can show it,” van Dijk added.
Alexander-Arnold, 24, joined Liverpool’s academy in 2004 and captained the club across the youth level. He will take over from veteran James Milner, who joined Brighton & Hove Albion in this transfer window.
Van Dijk being appointed as the new captain did not come as a surprise, as Klopp hinted at it before their 4-0 pre-season win over Leicester City in Singapore on Sunday.
“Virgil will start the game and he will be captain. I know already my decision but I have to tell the players. I didn’t expect to have that decision a few weeks ago,” the 56-year-old German said.
Besides the departures of Henderson and Milner, Brazil midfielder Fabinho has also signed a three-year deal with Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad after completing his move on Monday.
The 29-year-old was left out of Liverpool’s pre-season squads for trips to Germany and Singapore after Al-Ittihad made a £40 million (S$68.2 million) bid for him.
He will join Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante at Al-Ittihad, one of four Saudi clubs controlled by the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth fund.
Fabinho signed for Liverpool from AS Monaco in 2018 and made 219 appearances for the Reds, winning the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Club World Cup.
“Today I leave my home. It’s been five years wearing this jersey and always with the greatest honour and happiness possible,” he wrote on X, rebranded from Twitter.
“Since day one at Liverpool, I’ve been embraced by everyone. In these five years, I grew as a player, as a man, I made dreams come true... With that jersey, I won every title a player can dream of.”
Fabinho’s compatriot Roberto Firmino left Merseyside to sign for Al-Ahli earlier in July.
Klopp has also seen midfielders Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain depart on free transfers since the end of last season.
But the club have reinforced that area with the signings of Argentina’s World Cup winner Alexis Mac Allister and Hungary captain Dominik Szoboszlai. REUTERS, AFP
