Former Liverpool star Luis Garcia has claimed that Jurgen Klopp may need to address his right-back situation in the transfer market.
In the last five years or so, right-back has been the very least of Liverpool’s worries. Trent Alexander-Arnold nailed down the position and then blossomed into one of the very best in the business.
But over the course of this season, faith in the 24-year-old has started to wane. Having been caught out time and time again by opposition forwards, Garcia suggested that Trent’s place is no longer completely secure.
“Alexander-Arnold was exposed against one of the best players in the world at the moment that is Vinicius Jnr [on Wednesday]. He was helped by Konate in many situations but again he was exposed in that defensive role,” the Spaniard told ESPN FC.
“I’m not sure if that’s going to be a key place [that they look to upgrade in the transfer market], but definitely something that Liverpool need to think about in the coming months. Because you can see that something’s missing in the current situation.”
Different solutions to Liverpool’s Trent problem
There’s no way that Liverpool try to replace Alexander-Arnold this summer. None at all.
Things might be slightly different if the Reds didn’t have so many other pressing issues, but they do. No matter how much of a spotlight has been placed on Trent and his shortcomings, he isn’t Liverpool’s biggest problem.
Klopp needs to sort out his midfield first and foremost. As Darren Bent mentioned last night, having a more dependable No.6 in-front of Alexander-Arnold will help him no end.
Fabinho has done that job for years, but is starting to creak a little. Meanwhile Jordan Henderson no longer has the legs to cover effectively and someone like Harvey Elliott offers little to no protection at all. So, if Jurgen can get that right – as he intends to do – we should see a much better version of Trent.
Beyond that, Liverpool also need to go out and get another centre-back. As Garcia points out, Ibrahima Konate was a big help for Alexander-Arnold up against Vinicius on Wednesday. But he’s simply been injured too much. Ensuring they have quality next to their £180k-a-week right-back on a consistent basis is absolutely key.
Plug those two gaps on a regular basis, and it should give our key playmaker the license to go and do what he does best.