Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold would comfortably get in the XI’s of both Real Madrid and Barcelona.
That’s according to TalkSPORT pundit Darren Bent. Speaking on the radio station last night, Bent hit back at suggestions that Liverpool should look to upgrade on Trent at right-back.
“You better not think about letting Trent Alexander-Arnold go. Real Madrid have got Dani Carvajal, he could play for them, he could play for Barca,” claimed the former England striker.
“If they get another six, Fabinho used to do it really well, there’s no protection for him anymore. If you’re going to keep him, you’ve got to get a holding midfielder and you’ve got to protect him.
“He goes to a team, Trent, where they dominate possession, honestly. Imagine him playing for City, if Pep got hold of him in that team, he’d be unbelievable.”
Question marks lingering over Trent
A year ago, two years ago, three years ago, there would have been no argument about this. Since his breakthrough in 2017, Alexander-Arnold has consistently been one of the best right-backs in the game.
Carvajal at Madrid is obviously a very good player and has been doing it for years with great success. But he always feels like more of a functional player. He doesn’t give you what Trent can.
At Barcelona they haven’t really had a world-class right-back since Dani Alves. Trent perhaps isn’t as good as the Brazilian was, but he’s hands down been better than anything they’ve served up since.
Now though, there is a genuine question mark over whether Alexander-Arnold is quite up to that level. The 24-year-old hasn’t been as bad as a few people would have you believe this season, that should be said. But he’s also clearly really struggled.
Too often Trent has been targeted as the weak link in this Liverpool team. Far too often he hasn’t looked able to stand up to that challenge.
There shouldn’t be a question of Liverpool selling on their academy product, though. Unless Trent himself gets fed-up of the spotlight he’s currently under, we don’t think that will ever happen. It very well might be worth the Reds bringing in some better competition for him, though. We don’t mean a forever injured 19-year-old either. We mean proper, Kostas Tsimikas style competition. Then we’ll see what the young man is really made of.
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