Trent Alexander-Arnold has declared himself ready to take on the extra responsibility of succeeding James Milner as Liverpool’s vice-captain.
And the 24-year-old insists he is already thinking about a future in which he steps up to wear the armband for his boyhood club on a full-time basis.
Liverpool confirmed on Tuesday that Virgil van Dijk will take Jordan Henderson‘s place as captain, with Alexander-Arnold acting in support.
Asked if he feels prepared for the demands of the role, he confidently replied: “Of course I feel ready.
“I feel that without being put in this position I’ve been a leader and lead by example in the things I do on a daily basis in training and in and around the lads.
“And I think the lads see me as someone in a leadership role. I’m happy the manager and the staff see that too but that’s my mentality, I want to lead by example, make sure that I take responsibility for what I do and how the team performs as well.
“So it’s an amazing position to be in but I accept that there’s more responsibility on me that we succeed and achieve the things we want to this season.”
Despite reflecting on the pride he feels at what is a hugely significant moment in his short career, Alexander-Arnold went on to underline that his burning ambition is still to become full captain one day.
He added: “I’ve put in a lot of hard work up to this moment to reach these kind of milestones.
“It is a moment where I’m reflecting and thought I’m proud of myself, it’s made me smile – it takes a lot to make me smile!
“I’ve never been shy about saying what my ambitions are, and that’s always been to captain this club and this is a pathway, a stepping stone to that.
“It’s a role and a responsibility that I’m really looking forward to, getting the season started and hopefully achieving the things that we want to.”
The very moment Jurgen Klopp informed Alexander-Arnold of his captaincy decision was fortuitously caught on camera by LFCTV during an open training session in Singapore on Sunday.
Of that conversation, the defender said: “At first I thought he was going to tell me to stop giving the ball away!
“It was a lovely surprise, it was not one I was expecting in that moment. I thought we would have a conversation around that sort of thing at some point, but not in that moment.
“It was special. It was a moment I’ll remember.”
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