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Virgil van Dijk of Liverpool removes his captain's armband as he leaves the pitch following victory in the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Leicester City FC at Anfield (Image: 2024 Liverpool FC)

Trent Alexander-Arnold has won every major honour with Liverpool but one of his dreams will now be left unfulfilled - to become Reds captain.

The 26-year-old has confirmed his decision to leave the club at the end of his contract and is now expected to join Real Madrid.

A boyhood Liverpool supporter, the England international grew up idolising Steven Gerrard and dreamed of emulating his hero.



Yet he has lasted just two years in the role, captaining Liverpool from the start on only seven times in his entire Anfield career, as that long-term plan is ripped up.

While Conor Bradley is well-placed to replace the right-back in Arne Slot’s starting XI, the Dutchman will need to name a successor as Virgil van Dijk’s deputy too.

The obvious contenders will come from Liverpool’s current leadership group, with Andy Robertson, Alisson Becker and Mohamed Salah completing the soon-to-be depleted four-man quota.

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But while Alexander-Arnold was a long-term solution and obvious future successor to Van Dijk as captain, none of the trio can say the same.

Robertson’s own deal expires in 2026, with it well-documented that the Reds will look to sign a new left-back when the transfer window re-opens.

And while Alisson is contracted until 2027, Liverpool have already agreed a £29m deal with Valencia to sign Giorgi Mamardashvili.

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Mohamed Salah of Liverpool celebrates scoring his team's fourth goal during the Premier League match between Liverpool FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC at Anfield on April 27, 2025 (Image: Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

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Salah is perhaps the leading candidate from within that group as, like Van Dijk, he is a virtual ever-present and one of Liverpool’s most important players.

But both players are on a timer too, having signed two-year contract extensions last month.

Consequently, while Slot needs to name a new vice-captain now, the Reds are at risk of finding themselves in a position where they need new players in both roles once again within two years.

It wasn’t ideal when undergoing such a change in 2023 when there were still a number of alternative candidates within their leadership group despite losing two long-serving leaders.

Curtis Jones and Joe Gomez are the only two other players within Slot’s ranks to have officially captained Liverpool before, while Wataru Endo and Dominik Szoboszlai are captains of their respective countries.

Ibrahima Konate, Luis Diaz and Conor Bradley all have limited experience captaining their nations too, while Alisson previously hinted that Alexis Mac Allister has also emerged as a leader in the camp.

Supporters would perhaps expect Konate, Szoboszlai, Mac Allister and Jones to step up and become the Reds’ next leaders, with the quartet all candidates to join the club’s now ageing leadership group this summer following the latest reshuffle.

But the likes of the Frenchman - who is also out of contract next summer - and the Argentine also continue to be linked with moves away.

Admittedly the importance given to the armband itself in modern football is perhaps overstated, but the status of ‘Liverpool captain’ still means something at Anfield while the leadership group has played a pivotal role on and off the pitch since being set up by Klopp.

The Reds have lost their next obvious leader in Alexander-Arnold and now must decide whether to replace him with an experienced head or instead turn to a longer-term solution - as Klopp previously did when making the full-back vice-captain ahead of Robertson and Alisson in the first place.

From a certain point of view, they need four replacements for the England international this season- at right-back, vice-captain, Van Dijk's successor as future captain and in the leadership group.

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And while there are a handful of names that could step up, looking further afield across the next generation of Liverpool players, it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Van Dijk’s eventual successor as Liverpool captain is a player who has not even yet skippered the club.


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