Virgil van Dijk new Liverpool captain after Jordan Henderson joins Al-Ettifaq
Liverpool have officially announced the appointment of Virgil van Dijk as their new captain, succeeding Jordan Henderson who recently departed the team.
Virgil van Dijk.<p>
Virgil van Dijk has been appointed as Liverpool captain following the departure of Jordan Henderson, the Premier League club have announced. </p>
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The 32-year-old, who arrived at Anfield from Southampton in 2018 and has made 222 appearances, also performs the role internationally for the Netherlands. </p>
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Trent Alexander-Arnold has been confirmed as vice-captain after James Milner left to join Brighton earlier in the summer. </p>
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Henderson and Milner have departed as part of an overhaul of the team's midfield as Jurgen Klopp looks to rebuild following last season's disappointing fifth-place finish in the Premier League. </p>
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It meant the club failed to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2016. </p>
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"It has been a very disappointing year last year," Van Dijk told the club website. "It was actually not a bad run-in. Obviously in the end we didn't achieve anything we hoped to achieve and that was very disappointing." </p>
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Of the players who were part of Klopp's title-winning squad in 2020, Naby Keita and Roberto Firmino have also left, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been released following an injury-hit Reds career. </p>
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In their place, Brighton's World Cup-winning midfielder Alexis Mac Allister has been signed along with Hungary international Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig. </p>
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"Obviously it has been quite an interesting summer with players obviously leaving and new players coming in, this little transition that is going on," added Van Dijk. </p>
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"We also have to be a bit patient but we want to be there and we want to show what we're capable of because we have a fantastic group of players, staff, fans, stadium, we shouldn't even discuss that." </p>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet tw-align-center"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Captain for club and country 🇳🇱 <a href="https://t.co/vhoZixmAe9">pic.twitter.com/vhoZixmAe9</a></p>— Liverpool FC (@LFC) <a href="https://twitter.com/LFC/status/1686270540070154240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 1, 2023</a></blockquote>
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<p>The article <a href="https://www.planetsport.com/soccer/news/virgil-van-dijk-new-liverpool-captain-after-jordan-henderson-joins-alettifaq">Virgil van Dijk new Liverpool captain after Jordan Henderson joins Al-Ettifaq </a> appeared first on Planetsport.com.</p>