Good on Jordan Henderson for lobbying earlier this summer to be made Liverpool captain. That is just the sort of gumption that the club sorely needs. But making him Liverpool’s figurehead would be the wrong flag to fly right now. The club needs a higher standard-bearer.

It remains to be seen whether Roberto Firmino proves a good signing but it is at least a good sign. Further shows of ambition are required, along with further evidence of an ability to appreciate genuine class. Sanctifying Henderson after vilifying Raheem Sterling would suggest a club that does not quite have its sights properly aligned.

Nothing against Henderson, apart from his lack of supernatural magic. He is a player about whom there is plenty to admire: he seems a dedicated and talented professional who has added new layers to his game every season and overcome doubters, including his own manager, to establish himself as a reliable performer at Anfield. That makes him an important team member and a worthy role model, the ideal person to, say, front a club outreach programme encouraging kids to maximise their potential. Or a Nivea ad.

But it does not make him the inspirational leader to uplift and conspire with elite champions. Hell, he couldn’t even inspire Mario Balotelli to let him take a penalty last season. Compare that to Roy Keane reefing the ball from Diego Forlán in 2002: a slightly different scenario, granted, but an instructive one, all the same, because Keane was denying Forlán an easy solution, telling him that only by doing something special could he be rewarded. That’s the standard to set.

Making Henderson captain would be a facile solution because it would be a nice reward for a likeable and useful player but that is not good enough. And ultimately it would achieve nothing of merit. The captain’s armband may be overvalued in football but it is not entirely worthless and should not be wasted. Giving it to Henderson would not inspire him to wring any more commitment or skill out of himself because he already gives his utmost. Logically it serves no purpose to make him captain. And the maths doesn’t look good either: when Henderson gives 100%, he is a seven-out-of-10 player. The symbol of Liverpool must be better than that.

It is true that Henderson had as many Premier League assists to his name as Eden Hazard last season. But Chris Brunt had more than both so let’s not build a soapbox on statistics. Besides, if Liverpool were to put Henderson up for sale, would they get bids of more than the £16m that they paid for him in 2011? Probably not, even with inflation, and certainly not from Champions League clubs. In that sense, then, maybe he is a fitting flagbearer for a club that has largely failed to follow the espoused model of buying young talents and adding value. Indeed, maybe giving him the armband would be a sleight of hand designed to impress Moneyballers, an attempt to add cosmetic value in the absence of actual gain.

There is, of course, an outstanding exception: Sterling. Now there is a bona fide gem. Phenomenally skilled, he is also physically and mentally tough beyond his years, single-minded and uncompromising like a warrior, a winner. He has a rage to thrive at the top and an intolerance of mishmash floundering and small-timers. He has dared to prove himself bigger than Liverpool, which is one of the reasons why Liverpool should have taken exceptional measures to keep him, rather than patronise and pressurise him in a way they were incapable of pulling off successfully. Philippe Coutinho is a lovely player and there are others at Anfield of high promise, but only Sterling looks a surefire bet to become a great; losing him looks a terrible prospect.

Philippe Coutinho is another possible future Liverpool captain. Photograph: Carl Recine/Action Images via Reuters

What Liverpool should have done was what Manchester United did when Wayne Rooney agitated for a move from Old Trafford in 2013 while claiming he was sceptical about the club’s ambition. They should have made him a contract offer that he could not refuse (before relations deteriorated to the point that he would not, apparently, sign for even £900,000-per-week). And why not make him captain too? Alone that would not change Sterling’s stance, of course – he seems far too savvy to duped by such a sop – but by giving Sterling the armband along with a contract making him, if necessary, the highest-paid player at the club, Liverpool would have been seen to rise to Sterling’s ballsy challenge and respond with one of their own: you want to play at the Champions League? Then lead the way, comrade.

That is what the armband can be used for: to point not to past achievements, which is why James Milner would be no good, nor to present dedication, which is why Henderson is out, but rather to where the club believes it is going. Henderson is not going to guide them to the glory any more than Scott Parker blazed a trail to the top for Chelsea. Sterling might.

But probably not on his own, even if he is now older than he was last term, when the club foisted positional switches and a level of responsibility on him that they were unwilling to back up with commensurate wages. So more money, the armband, another recruit or two along the lines of Firmino, for Sterling to learn from and conjure with the way he used to when Luis Suárez was around, and some stalwarts to secure things at the back while the revellers up front do their thing. Is that too much to ask? If it is, then Sterling is better off away from Liverpool.

But the summer is young and it is still not obvious where Liverpool are headed with their rebuilding, much more of which is still needed. Could it be that the shedding of Brendan Rodgers’ backroom staff reflects not a manager that is weak, threatened or treacherous, but one that is maturing, newly clear-minded and sure how to march on to a new level?

It will be interesting to see how Colin Pascoe and Mike Marsh are followed. Interesting, too, to see whether Firmino is intended to complement Sterling or replace him. And to what extent Liverpool solidify their rearguard. Nathaniel Clyne will be a strong addition, but more heads definitely need to be hunted, and with the same decisiveness that Chelsea and even Manchester United recruited last term or, indeed, that the Liverpool of yore did.

A solid goalkeeper with the ability and authority to give a sense of security to a defence that seemed permanently on the edge of breakdown last season is essential. Such a figure would be a suitable candidate for the armband. At the moment, it looks like Liverpool are either going to try to muddle on through next season – in which case they might as well name Henderson as captain – or put their faith in creative forces atoning for defensive collapses. In which case, if Sterling is squandered and leaves, then Coutinho would probably be their best standard-bearer.

So giving the Brazilian the armband and chucking a few million quid in a wishing well would fairly sum up what Liverpool are about these days.