Who Comes After Virgil van Dijk? Potential Heirs Jacquet and Leoni
At Anfield, the question hangs in the air: who comes after Virgil van Dijk?
Inside Liverpool, the long-term planning has already started. Names are on the board. Two of them – Jacquet and Leoni – are being talked about as potential heirs to the captain’s throne at the heart of the defence.
Former Reds full-back Stephen Warnock, speaking to GOAL in association with Gambler Media, can see why the conversation has started. He also knows exactly how dangerous it can be.
“Possibly,” he said when asked if Jacquet and Leoni could be the men to fill Van Dijk’s boots. “I think the hard thing is trying to replace, obviously, a player of Van Dijk's stature.”
That’s the crux of it. You don’t really replace Virgil van Dijk. You just hope the drop-off isn’t brutal.
Warnock has been encouraged by what he’s seen and heard so far. Leoni has barely pulled on the shirt, yet the defender’s reputation from Serie A and his performances in Italy have already stirred excitement. Jacquet, too, is seen as being on the right path.
“The signs were promising, both from Leoni, even after one game, but the talk around Serie A and how he performed in Italy,” Warnock said. Then came the warning. “But there will always become a pressure once you get to a certain level.”
That pressure is specific, and it will not relent. Every tackle, every header, every slip will be measured against Van Dijk.
“There will be more talk, talking about Van Dijk and can they be the heir to the throne, of taking over Van Dijk?” Warnock added. “And it's just about how they progress from now until probably around about 26, 27, when you learn so much about the game and you get better at understanding.”
Those are the years that make or break a centre-half. Talent gets you noticed; experience turns you into a pillar.
“And that's essentially what you have to do when you're a centre-half,” Warnock said. “You've got to read the game better, you've got to get yourself in better positions, and that's part of the process.”
He likes the trajectory. He refuses to make guarantees.
“So it's very difficult to say whether they're going to be the successors because they're on the right trajectory. But there's so many things that can come into place, like injuries and lack of form, the shirt being too heavy at times, where the club's actually at.”
That last point matters. Context shaped Van Dijk’s impact, and Warnock hasn’t forgotten it.
“When you think about when Virgil van Dijk came into the Liverpool team, it was almost him and Alisson that were the final two pieces of the jigsaw,” he said. “And it slotted him perfectly into a great system, a great team.”
Van Dijk walked into a side ready to win everything. Jacquet and Leoni, if they are to follow, will not have that luxury.
“At the moment, Liverpool are in a transitional phase and that's difficult to play in at times,” Warnock concluded.
So the bar is set, the expectation is heavy, and the environment is shifting. If Jacquet and Leoni are to grow into Van Dijk’s boots, they’ll have to do it while the ground beneath them is still moving.
