Rodgers: His life is Liverpool
Brendan Rodgers has explained how Daniel Agger's passion and commitment to the Liverpool cause, coupled with the Dane's first-rate defensive ability, earned him the Reds' vice-captaincy.
Agger will step into the role vacated by Jamie Carragher when the 2013-14 campaign gets underway in August.
Rodgers revealed how the defender could not hide his delight when he was given the news on Friday - and insisted the 28-year-old can continue to be a fine role model at the club.
"He's a top-class player and he prepares really well throughout the week. Football is his life and Liverpool is his life," Rodgers told LFC TV.
"From my first conversation with him, he made it very clear that he wants to be here. I've also known during my time here that other clubs have wanted to take him, but he's been very true to his word.
"His loyalty and his passion for Liverpool is second to none. And if you add that on to his footballing qualities, then I think it's a good choice for everybody."
Rodgers continued: "He was very proud when he found out the news. I had spoken to him at the beginning of pre-season to tell him that he was one of the ones I was going to be looking at closely, and throughout pre-season he has been a real role model within the group.
"He has trained magnificently and he was delighted when I pulled him over and said that he'd be the one that I would be looking at to step in to Carra's shoes. He was very pleased and very proud as you can imagine.
"He's an international captain and he's been here for a long time - the supporters and the players really recognise that with him.
"I'm sure we'll see an extra percentage rise in his game and in his performance, because he's a very proud man. I've loved working with him and now this gives him an extra responsibility.
"I must say there were another number of players who have proved to be great leaders in their own right over this pre-season. Lucas Leiva, Jordan Henderson, Kolo Toure and some of the other experienced players.
"I'm sure Daniel is a really good choice and that everyone will appreciate that he's now the vice-captain."
The man from Hvidovre has played 209 games for the Reds so far, predominantly at the heart of the Liverpool defence, but occasionally operating in the left-back role.
He's netted 12 goals in a seven-year period, but some of them have been absolute beauties - and one in particular, against Chelsea in the 2007 Champions League semi-final second leg at Anfield, proved to be crucial.
His was one of the names constantly put forward by pundits and Reds fans alike after vice-captain Carragher played his final game for the club in May this year.
The Dane learned at close quarters from his predecessor - and Rodgers believes he can emulate Carragher and show skipper Steven Gerrard an ample amount of support.
"At the end of last season we lost a really influential figure in Carragher," said the boss. "So it was a job over the course of the summer and one that I couldn't take lightly.
"The job of the captain and vice-captain here at Liverpool is very, very important. I wanted to give myself time over the course of the pre-season to assess a number of the players and obviously Daniel was one of them.
"Stevie has been in the captain's role for a number of years, so he knows the qualities that are required to be the captain and he's a wonderful captain of this football club.
"So the vice-captain has to offer support. But certainly from my perspective, there's a great onus on those to lead by example.
"They are the guys who carry out the work that I would want when I'm not there. I'm sure Daniel will learn a lot from Steven - and I'm sure he's learned a lot from Carra by watching him play."