Virgil van Dijk has been named the new Liverpool captain, the club has confirmed.

The 32-year-old takes over from Jordan Henderson who completed his transfer to Saudi club Al-Ettifaq on Friday.

Dutch captain Van Dijk always seemed to be the natural successor to Henderson, especially after vice-captain James Milner also departed earlier this summer to Brighton & Hove Albion.

Virgil van Dijk – IMAGO / Jan Huebner

Liverpool’s number four has also led the team in the pre-season friendlies so far against Karlsruher SC, Greuther Furth, and Leicester City.

Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool

Van Dijk signed for Liverpool for a club-record fee of £75million in January 2018 from Southampton.

His move to Anfield has been seen as pivotal to the success under Jurgen Klopp which saw Liverpool win the European Cup in 2019 before claiming their first league title for 30 years the following season.

So far, Van Dijk has made 222 appearances for the Reds and has scored 19 goals.

Trent Alexander-Arnold has also been named as vice-captain ahead of the new campaign.

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