Hinting at something much bigger in the future?
That could possibly have been the message that summer signing Joachim Andersen was sending when talking about his new responsibilities at the club having recently been made captain for games against Leicester City and Manchester City.
Speaking with French outlet Le Progres, (via Sport Witness), Andersen spoke about what it meant to be given the captain’s armband and what it can mean for both himself and the club in the future:
“It’s something else! To be captain of the team after just four games, it’s incredible. I’m very proud. Once again, it shows the trust the manager has in me. It shows I’m working well and that I can be a leader for this team: I’m playing well; I’m focused in training.
It’s a nice reward, to feel that people around me trust me is very important to me, and I especially felt that here. It’s key to development. I’m 24. I need to learn a lot still, and the only way to learn is to play every game”.
Can Andersen be our long-term captain?
Yes
No
I think there is one sentence in there that really sticks out to me, and that’s where he talks about being a leader for this team. I spoke a few days ago about how I felt that Andersen was someone that we really should be looking to keep for the long-term, and hopefully the more and more faith we put in him, the better chance there is we can convince him to stay.
Call it a ‘bribe’ of sorts if you will, but if we can offer him the long-term captaincy of this club, then we might just be able to convince him that he can make a career for himself at Craven Cottage. It might upset Tom Cairney, but as you might tell from my earlier piece I wouldn’t be too down on that personally, and we can usher in a new age at the club.
What about you? What do you make of Andersen’s comments?