It feels wrong to discuss Liverpool’s future left-back options on Andy Robertson’s birthday. But Antonee Robinson has been the subject of transfer links, and he has issued a direct response.
Of course, the fact that Robertson has now turned 31 is one of the reasons why Arne Slot may well explore the transfer market in the summer. The Scot continues to be an important figure, but he has had a few wobbles this season, and 28-year-old Kostas Tsimikas is not a likely contender to be his long-term heir.
And there is plenty to recommend Antonee Robinson, beyond the mere fact that he sounds like a Pokemon evolution of Andy Robertson. The USMNT international has been one of the Premier League’s standout left-backs over the past couple of seasons.
Over the past year, Robinson ranks in the 98th percentile for assists among full-backs in Europe’s top five leagues. He’s also excellent at progressing the ball through carries, and ranks very soldily in a variety of defensive metrics too.
This all-round package also happens to sum up Robertson, or certainly the version we witnessed in the peak years under Jurgen Klopp. It’s not too difficult to see how Robinson might have come up in data-led succession planning talks between Richard Hughes and Michael Edwards.
That being said, despite rising to real prominence relatively recently, Robinson is already 27, and will turn 28 in the summer. From that perspective, Liverpool would be right back where it started with Tsimikas, making a transfer look far less likely.
And for his part, Robinson has brushed off Liverpool speculation. While admitting the news has reached him, the Fulham star has denied setting any store by it.
(Image: John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images for USSF)
“So transfer rumors and stuff like that, I try not to look at,” Robinson told ESPN. “Especially like with the Liverpool one — all my friends and family are from Liverpool, so it’s more of them messaging me than me seeing newspaper stuff.
“And I have to say, “Look, it’s just, just a story in the paper. Anyone who’s doing well is going to get linked to a team.””
Robinson actually has links with the Blue half of Merseyside. He came up through the Everton youth system, and was on the books until 2019, albeit without making a senior appearance.
Returning to the city as a Liverpool player to take over from a legend like Robertson would certainly be an incredible story. Whether it’s likely to happen is another question, however, and it seems Robinson himself is the last one to get carried away with the idea.
