Liverpool’s next captain after Jordan Henderson will seem somewhat cut and dry for a number of fans given the rising stock of Trent Alexander-Arnold and the attractive quality that is the defender’s Scouse identity.
That being said, player power can’t be ignored in this regard, and the results of one vote last term would appear to suggest that Virgil van Dijk is more likely to inherit the armband before the fullback.
“It was just 48 hours before kick-off at Norwich, two days until the season started. “If we play like we trained today, we will be flying,” is what Milner said after training. The problem with sessions like this? It makes it much harder to choose a first 11,” the Dutchman shared in an extract from his upcoming book ‘Intensity: Inside Liverpool FC – Our Identity’ (via the Echo).
“We were seeing the benefits of a full six-week pre-season – if people want to improve the game and its quality, they should think about allowing for this more often.
“That night Jürgen forwarded me a text with the result of the votes for the players’ committee. There were three spots left behind our captain Hendo, vice-captain Milner and leader Virgil.
Assuming that the centre-half can outlast our current skipper in the squad – a likelihood in light of his position and the No.4’s technical quality – one might imagine that the 31-year-old will replace the England international as club captain.
Beyond that point, of course, assuming that the players don’t bump our No.66 higher up the pecking order before then, we’d imagine the right-back won’t be waiting too long to have his wishes fulfilled.
Ultimately, of course, it has to be said there is a significant appeal surrounding the prospect of the armband returning to a Scouser following the passing of the torch from legendary midfielder Steven Gerrard to the former Sunderland man.
Alexander-Arnold may be forced to potentially wait a little longer than he’d like for that eventuality to come to pass, though his time will come.