Liverpool knows it will be very challenging to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold’s impact on the team. In fact, it knows as much first-hand, having already signed a player earmarked as his long-term successor.
Exactly how Arne Slot goes about things this summer will be very interesting. Various right-backs have naturally been linked since Alexander-Arnold confirmed his departure, with Jeremie Frimpong one of the more recurring names.
There’s also the school of thought that a like-for-like right-back is impossible to source, and Liverpool will need to replace Alexander-Arnold’s creativity by adding a new midfielder like Rayan Cherki. Others still believe that the presence of Conor Bradley means Slot won’t need to find a replacement at all.
A couple of summers ago, this would have sounded particularly outlandish. Bradley was just returning from a loan at Bolton Wanderers in League One, albeit a highly productive one — and in any case, Liverpool had not long signed somebody who had been hailed as Alexander-Arnold’s heir.
Calvin Ramsay caused much excitement when he arrived from Aberdeen in the summer of 2022. It was hailed as a classic data-driven Liverpool move, unearthing a relatively obscure gem with the potential to make a big first-team impression.
Obscure in the context of Premier League recruitment, perhaps, but Ramsay was already well-known in Scotland. It wouldn’t be too much of an exaggeration to say he had taken the top flight by storm, and Liverpool noticed something singularly interesting about the emerging teenager.
This was not just another talented right-back. This was a right-back who played in the mold of Alexander-Arnold. Like the Liverpool man, Ramsay was occasionally deployed in midfield, as his club grappled with how best to use his impressive creative skills. Even his crossing style was aesthetically similar to that of Alexander-Arnold.
But injuries have caused problems from the moment he walked through the doors at Anfield. Three minutes in the Champions League and 90 in the EFL Cup was the extent of his debut campaign at Liverpool, which ended in knee surgery.
By then, Bradley was returning from Bolton with boatloads of valuable experience and confidence. As a result, it was Ramsay’s turn to be loaned out, but Liverpool still had every reason to hope the Scot would return ready to challenge for a place in the squad.
(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Instead, his injury nightmare continued. Ramsay made just two appearances for Preston North End, before Liverpool cut that short and decided to send him to Bolton, where Bradley had thrived the previous season.
But that didn’t work either. This time there was no specific injury issue, although match fitness was a problem, and Ramsay could only add three more brief appearances to his tally for the season.
Come the start of 2024/25, Ramsay was already becoming something of a forgotten man. Liverpool rolled the League One dice again, sending him to Wigan.
Unfortunately, however, this also only lasted half a season. Again, there was no specific injury to pinpoint, but Ramsay fought a losing battle for any significant game time.
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Aiming to at least get him some settled minutes, Liverpool sent him back up to Scotland, arranging a loan to Kilmarnock. But even back in the division where he was once named Young Player of the Season, Ramsay has found it hard to get a look-in, making a single start and four substitute appearances.
Remarkably, despite now counting six clubs on his resume, Ramsay is still only 21. But it would take a brave man indeed to utter his name as a potential Alexander-Arnold successor at Liverpool. It is a sad fact that all of this can easily happen to a young player. Hard-won reputations can fall much more quickly than they are forged, and unforeseen obstacles can radically alter career trajectories.
But Liverpool took the gamble on him at such a young age because he was one of such a small number to share Alexander-Arnold’s basic profile. It is simply not possible to go and sign a ready-made full-back who does what he can do.
There are plenty of excellent right-backs, and fortunately for Liverpool, Bradley has developed into one of them. His rise has been every bit as dramatic as Ramsay’s fall, and his case for a starting place next season is a strong one. However, Bradley is not Alexander-Arnold. He can become an important cog in an all-conquering team, but he will never be its creative heartbeat.
Ramsay was once thought to have that potential. He still has time on his side to build a great career for himself, but it looks unlikely to be at Anfield — and his fate is a timely reminder about the extent of the void Alexander-Arnold is about to leave behind.
