The Eagles defender has been given the armband by Alan Pardew for the 2016/17 season after relieving Mile Jedinak of his duties.
Well, rather embarrassingly, the German defender was named club captain last week, while he’s facing a four-month injury lay off. Mertesacker is unlikely to take the armband until at least December. In the meantime, Petr Cech will be skipper.
He might have played for the club at every level from League Two to the Premier League, amassing more than 400 appearances, but he’s only just been named captain by the club.