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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Guardian sport

Virgil van Dijk to captain Liverpool with Trent Alexander-Arnold as deputy

Virgil van Dijk after Liverpool’s friendly against Leicester in Singapore.
Virgil van Dijk, pictured after Liverpool’s friendly against Leicester in Singapore, has been at the club since 2018. Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC/Getty Images

Virgil van Dijk will take over from Jordan Henderson as Liverpool’s captain, with Trent Alexander-Arnold the vice-captain. The appointments were confirmed four days after Henderson’s move to the Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq.

Van Dijk is the captain of the Netherlands and wore the armband with Liverpool eight times last season. Alexander-Arnold succeeds James Milner, who has joined Brighton, as the vice-captain.

Van Dijk told Liverpool’s website: “[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.”

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Van Dijk, who joined Liverpool from Southampton in 2018, believes Liverpool can bounce back from a disappointing season in which they finished fifth. “We can be up there again,” he said.

“It’s all about doing it together with the consistency and hopefully we can show it.”

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