Liverpool's Defensive Future: Can Jacquet and Leoni Fill Van Dijk's Role?

Virgil van Dijk will leave a hole at the heart of Liverpool’s defence that no single player can realistically fill. The question now is whether the next era at Anfield will be built around a partnership – and whether Jacquet and Leoni can grow into that responsibility.

Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock believes the raw materials are there, but he isn’t dressing it up.

“Possibly,” he told GOAL when asked if the pair could help replace Van Dijk in the long term. “I think the hard thing is trying to replace, obviously, a player of Van Dijk's stature.”

That’s the scale of the task. You don’t just swap out a generational centre-half and carry on as normal. You rebuild, you adjust, you wait.

Warnock has seen enough, even at this early stage, to understand why Liverpool are excited about Leoni in particular.

“The signs were promising, both from Leoni, even after one game, but the talk around Serie A and how he performed in Italy,” he said.

The reputation from Italy matters. It follows a player into a dressing room, onto a training pitch, into the expectations of a fanbase that has grown used to elite defending.

Then comes the weight. The comparisons. The noise.

“There will always become a pressure once you get to a certain level,” Warnock added. “There will be more talk, talking about Van Dijk and can they be the heir to the throne, of taking over Van Dijk?”

That throne is heavy. The shirt can be heavier.

For Warnock, the key lies not in the next few weeks, but in the next few years. He pointed to the age when centre-backs usually come of age and truly understand the craft.

“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,” he explained.

At that stage, the job becomes less about athleticism and more about anticipation. Reading danger before it appears. Making defending look simple because the positions are right and the decisions are early.

“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 stopped short of declaring Jacquet and Leoni as guaranteed heirs. The pathway is there, but it’s littered with the usual traps.

“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 made Van Dijk. Context will shape whoever follows.

Warnock went back to the moment the Dutchman walked through the door at Anfield and how perfectly the environment suited him.

“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 didn’t just transform Liverpool. Liverpool were ready for him. A high-functioning side, a settled style, a manager at his peak. He stepped into order and elevated it.

Jacquet and Leoni may not get that luxury.

“At the moment, Liverpool are in a transitional phase and that's difficult to play in at times,” Warnock warned.

That is the backdrop: a defence being reshaped, a squad evolving, expectations unchanged. The boots are huge, the standards are brutal, and the safety net is thin.

If Jacquet and Leoni do grow into those roles, it won’t be because they are “the next Van Dijk.” It will be because they survive the pressure, navigate the transition, and turn potential into authority in a back line that is being rewritten on the fly.