Jurgen Klopp assures Jordan Henderson over Liverpool captaincy

The arrival of Naby Keita from Red Bull Leipzig in the summer, and possibly another midfielder depending on Emre Can’s contract situation, has increased the scrutiny on Henderson’s role

Jordan Henderson was appointed as Liverpool captain in July 2015 following Steven Gerrard’s retirement (Getty)

Jordan Henderson has been assured by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp that he will remain the club’s captain for the foreseeable future.

The arrival of Naby Keita from Red Bull Leipzig in the summer, and possibly another midfielder depending on Emre Can’s contract situation, has increased the scrutiny on Henderson’s role in the side going forward.

Henderson was appointed as Liverpool captain in July 2015 following Steven Gerrard’s retirement, and skippered England for their recent friendlies against the Netherlands and Italy.

There is an emerging school of thought, though, that the dynamic nature of Liverpool’s play means Keita will be an automatic starter in the Reds’ midfield engine room.

Should Henderson therefore not find himself a regular next season, Klopp could be under pressure to hand the armband to another player.

Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk, who was recently appointed Holland skipper, would appear the obvious candidate to replace him.

However, Klopp stated he has no plans to take the captaincy off Henderson in the future which would indicate the 27-year-old still has a major part to play as a first-team regular.

“Hendo is doing an incredible job here,” Klopp said. “If you ask me ‘am I thinking about giving the armband to someone else?’ then no.

“Captaincy feels like a joy in the first moment and then from that moment on it’s only work.

Jordan Henderson skippered England for their recent friendlies (Getty Images)

“I don’t think if I asked in the dressing room ‘who wants to be captain next year?’ that 28 arms would go up.

“What we need at Liverpool are these kind of players who are leaders. Hendo and Virgil are leaders and that’s cool.

“But I am not half as much interested in the captaincy role than you all are.

“I’ve learned a lot in the last few days about the captaincy role in cricket, but I don’t really know what they are talking about!

“Do you need more than one player who feels responsible for the whole group? Yes of course. We have them and Virgil is one of them.

“It’s a job to do and it’s not better paid, you don’t get extra money for doing it. There are a lot more duties and not a lot more rights to be honest.”

Virgil van Dijk has been touted as a possible Liverpool captain (Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Klopp has no concerns about throwing right-back Nathaniel Clyne back into action ahead of a crunch period of games.

Clyne is poised to feature against Crystal Palace to test his fitness before their Champions League double header with Manchester City either side of the Merseyside derby.

He has not played for the Reds since a pre-season friendly at Tranmere Rovers on 12 July after a nightmare spell with injuries.

The 26-year-old has struggled with a variety of problems, the most troublesome of which has been a back injury which required surgery last November.

Liverpool’s regular right-back Joe Gomez has been ruled out for around a month with an ankle injury picked up on England duty.

Clyne has not played this season after suffering an initial injury last July (Getty)

The experience of Clyne may be more preferable for Klopp in high-profile fixtures against City rather than banking on 19-year-old Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Clyne has built up his fitness with Liverpool’s Under-23s and Klopp is keen to have him in the mix for a crucial run of games.

“You can see in training that everything is there again. We will use him for sure,” Klopp added. “Of course he does not have the rhythm. But no fears, no.

“We tried to give him as many games as possible after a long, long time out. I think he’s had three games now. It’s not perfect but it’s better than no game. It’s all okay now.

“He is a top player, 100 per cent, a top professional, a top player. Before his injury Clyney played nearly all the games.

“If we had not the two options with Joe and Trent then we would have missed him like crazy.”