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Virgil van Dijk and Arne Slot of Liverpool, line up with their mascots prior to the Carabao Cup Final between Liverpool and Newcastle United at Wembley Stadium (Image: 2025 Liverpool FC)

Trent Alexander-Arnold was meant to be the next Liverpool captain.

Real Madrid are seemingly closing in on signing the defender on a free transfer this summer when his Reds contract expires.

Losing the defender would be a bitter blow for Liverpool and leave holes in their ranks that need to be filled, both in terms of on the pitch and in their leadership ranks.

But with Arne Slot perhaps in need of a new vice-captain, he faces a big dilemma with it becoming clear that Alexander-Arnold is not the only member of the Reds’ leadership group at risk of moving on.

Virgil van Dijk was named Liverpool captain the same summer as Alexander-Arnold was appointed vice.

Gini Wijnaldum was fourth in line, but after his departure in the summer of 2021, Alexander-Arnold, Andy Robertson and Alisson Becker were all added to the group - influenced by serious injury ruling out a number of senior players in 2020/21.

And then following the exits of Henderson and Milner, Mohamed Salah became the latest member of Liverpool’s leadership group, with Alexander-Arnold promoted to vice-captain at the same time as a mark of passing on the baton to preserve the future.

But now all five members of the group have question marks against their Reds futures.

Like Alexander-Arnold, both Van Dijk and Salah are out of contract this summer.

But if the Dutchman and/or Egyptian also leave at the end of their contracts, it opens up another vacancy entirely.

When Van Dijk was appointed Liverpool captain, Alexander-Arnold was already earmarked as the long-term successor.

But now, less than two years later, the Reds are at risk of finding themselves in a position where they need new players in both roles once again.

It wasn’t ideal when undergoing such a change in 2023 when there were still a number of alternative candidates despite losing two long-serving leaders, but it is even more of an unenviable situation now.

It is perfectly feasible that the current leadership group could be wiped out with all five members having left the club within two years, with Liverpool then needing new leaders to step from within their squad as a result.

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.

Yet Gomez and Endo are nothing more than squad players at Anfield and could easily move on this summer.

But to lose its entire leadership group in quick-succession is much more of a concern, especially when obvious replacements are limited.

In the short term, Alexander-Arnold’s exit raises the question who will become the next Reds vice-captain.

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But having long since been earmarked to become Liverpool’s next captain when the time comes for Van Dijk to move on, Slot now has to decide if Alexander-Arnold won’t be the man to inherit the armband, who is, before weighing up which of his other players are best-placed to support them.


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