While it hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, Liverpool‘s ‘Scouser in the team’ Trent Alexander-Arnold will be heading to Real Madrid this summer. And he has been sent a message by the player he will hope to replace.
Xabi Alonso has played a back three with Bayer Leverkusen but when he joins Real Madrid, he is likely to revert back to a back four. Dani Carvajal and Alexander-Arnold will be two strong options at full-back, with the former making his way back from an ACL injury.
There has been some suggestion that Alexander-Arnold could move into midfield, but Jurgen Klopp and Arne Slot have tried that at Anfield on occasion, and it hasn’t worked. Carvajal is more defensively solid but is now 33.
“It hasn’t been made official yet, but it seems so,” Carvajal told Mundo Deportivo when he was asked about Alexander-Arnold arriving. “Fear? We don’t talk about fear here. We’ll be teammates. Competition improves both of us and brings out the best in each of us.”
While Slot losing Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool has moved on from big players in the past. Jeremie Frimpong appears likely to be the Reds’ first summer signing and he and Conor Bradley will attempt to fill the void.
“I think, like everybody who likes Liverpool and who is a fan of Liverpool, we are disappointed for him leaving because not only [is] a good human being leaving the club but a very, very, very good full-back is leaving us as well,” Slot said in a press conference last week.
“I also worked at clubs, like AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord, where every season, a very good or multiple very good players have left the club. So, I’m a bit more used to it maybe that players [are] leaving the club.
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“The experience I have — and, by the way, this club as well — [is] that if a very good player is leaving, the next very good player will step up, and that’s probably what’s going to happen now again as well.”
Bradley has been handed chances to impress in the last few games and he was particularly good in the first half at Brighton. His next step is to prove he has the consistency of fitness and form to play 90 minutes every week.
“Let’s not compare him with Trent,” Slot cautioned. “Now already they are also two different types, in my opinion. With Conor, I think we all see the potential.
“But last week I walked onto the pitch together with him and I looked around because for me it was the first time [at Stamford Bridge] and I was very surprised to hear from him that he had a comment about the stadium as well.
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“I looked at him like, ‘Didn’t you know yet?’ And he said, ‘No, it’s the first time that I’m here as well.’ That was a bit of a surprise to me because, for me, he’s already further in his development than being for the first time in an away game like Chelsea.
“Very talented player, Conor. Unfortunately, [he] hasn’t been fit throughout the whole season and to become a very good player you have to be available every single week as well, and that’s the first step he has to make for next season.
“But we have a lot of confidence in Conor as a very good full-back for Liverpool. That’s already what he’s shown, I think, in the past two seasons.”
Liverpool.com says: Alexander-Arnold will be a big loss but Bradley can step up. At Real Madrid, it will be fascinating to see how he gets on. He could quickly be criticized if things go wrong, but might end up with the focus being more on his strengths than his weaknesses, which has often been the case in the Premier League.
