'That was my fault' - Jurgen Klopp to confirm Jordan Henderson replacement after Liverpool mistake
Jurgen Klopp will need to appoint both a new captain and vice-captain at Liverpool this summer, following Jordan Henderson’s controversial move to Al-Ettifaq.
The Reds had already lost the services of long-standing deputy to James Milner, who joined Brighton & Hove Albion at the end of his contract earlier this summer. As a result, with the two midfielders already positioned as Liverpool’s captain and vice-captain at the time of Klopp’s appointment in October 2015, the German will need to decide successors for the first time in his Anfield career.
“It's sad, absolutely strange, because he is the only captain I had here at Liverpool,” Klopp would concede when paying an emotional farewell to the midfielder.
Having served as third-choice captain, Virgil van Dijk is in line to be promoted as a result of Henderson and Milner’s exits. Captaining the Reds in both their pre-season friendlies so far against Karlsruher and Furth, you would perhaps expect him to get the armband as a result.
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Meanwhile, Joe Gomez has taken over captaincy duties in the second half for both fixtures this summer. However, that is a result of his status as the club’s longest-serving player rather than his place in the pecking order when it comes to the armband, given he is not actually in the club’s publicised leadership group.
So who is in line to serve as Van Dijk’s vice-captain, if the centre-back is indeed confirmed as Henderson’s successor?
It used to be compatriot Gini Wijnaldum, with the Dutch midfielder leading the Reds 11 times during his final season at Anfield in 2020/21 in the
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