Michael Owen thinks he already knows who’s going to replace Virgil van Dijk for Liverpool

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Liverpool may be faced with the reality of having to finally find a successor to Virgil van Dijk at the end of the season, with the captain’s contract set to expire.Van Dijk has shown no signs of letting up so far this term, leading the Reds to three consecutive Premier League clean sheets and continuing to be an ever-present in Andoni Iraola’s starting XI. If he carries on in this vein, it is impossible to think that Van Dijk could leave Liverpool, but until he pens that extension, the reality is that he genuinely could.

And having watched him excel during the 1-0 win over Bournemouth on Sunday, former Liverpool striker Michael Owen believes Jacquet is already showing that he will be the Van Dijk successor. How would you rate Andoni Iraola's start at Liverpool?

What's gone well, and what still needs work? 🤔 Jeremy Jacquet will be Van Dijk’s successorJacquet has been a revelation after coming straight into the Liverpool team following his arrival from Rennes, with the Bournemouth win being arguably his best and most complete performance to date.Owen was certainly impressed by the 21-year-old, and after the game he told Premier League Productions that Liverpool fans should already be expecting that Jacquet will take over the mantle from Van Dijk as their main defender in the future.“Bournemouth have got quite a strong attack if you look at some of the players there, they can be dangerous, and Liverpool have not been perfect at full-back certainly this season, but I do like Jacquet and Van Dijk as a combination,” he said.READ MORE: Michael Owen says why ‘unselfish’ Florian Wirtz was actually key to Liverpool’s win at Bournemouth“I think Liverpool fans will be delighted actually with Jacquet, because of course Van Dijk’s not going to last forever, so they need a new, younger player that’s coming through and I think he’s the guy. So that’s been a positive.”Commenting on Liverpool’s performance on the South Coast as a whole, Owen said that if Jacquet and Van Dijk can keep the door closed at the back, the Reds’ firepower up front will be enough to win them games.“They looked relatively solid, Bournemouth didn’t have so many chances, obviously Alisson made a great save, but apart from that Liverpool did pretty well at the back, and if you can keep clean sheets like that, with the potent strike force and the individual talent that they’ve got, you’re always likely to score,” he said.Join Our NewsletterReceive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox