Arne Slot still has some decisions to make over a number of his Liverpool squad as the Reds prepare for the new season.
It has so far been an especially productive summer for Slot as he gets to grips with what’s expected from him with the Reds.
The one complaint that the new head coach could have is that he hasn’t been able to work with a number of really key Liverpool players for very long at all.
It was only on Tuesday that Slot first met the likes of Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk and Darwin Nunez in person.
Another to have only just become acquainted with his new boss is Trent Alexander-Arnold. But it now looks as though it hasn’t taken Slot long to make a decision over the No.66.
Arne Slot hints at Trent Alexander-Arnold position
There are two separate conversations going on about Alexander-Arnold at the moment. The first is the most important and that’s the matter of his long-term future at Anfield.
The 25-year-old’s contract is set to end next summer and Liverpool need to make sure he signs a new one. Hopefully there are positive updates in the pipeline on that front.
The second topic around Trent is about where will Slot decide to play him next season?
Alexander-Arnold didn’t cover himself in glory while playing in midfield for England at the Euros this summer, but had looked a possibility that the Dutch coach could still play him there for Liverpool.
Slot promised to sit down privately with Alexander-Arnold to hash all of this out, and in our opinion, whether that chat has or has not yet happened, the fallout already looks to be clear.
READ MORE: What Trent Alexander-Arnold has told Arne Slot about his plans for next season
Liverpool are targeting Martin Zubimendi as a new signing, with an approach seemingly becoming more concrete this week.
Zubimendi would be another addition to a midfield that already contains Curtis Jones, Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Stefan Bajcetic, Wataru Endo, Tyler Morton and Harvey Elliott.
Not all of those players will be utilised in the same way by Slot and some may still leave, but it looks likely that at least six of them would largely play in Liverpool’s two deeper-lying positions.
As a result, we’d argue that adding Zubimendi to this pile is a very clear signal that Slot is planning ahead with Alexander-Arnold at right-back.
Trent Alexander-Arnold role becomes clear
It could be that Slot sees Trent as something like the hybrid player he came to play as during the past 18 months at Liverpool.
Maybe there’ll be certain games where the head coach thinks the match might be suited to having the academy graduate in the middle of the pitch.
But, by and large, it seems clear now that Slot wants Alexander-Arnold to be his right-back. That is, as long as the Scouser signs a new deal.
From our point of view, that is really good news. We think Trent did his best work at Liverpool as a more orthodox right-back and a return to that would be great.
Zubimendi would likely be to Alexander-Arnold’s left as his nearest midfield contact in Slot’s best XI. With Mohamed Salah up top as ever, that’s a great looking right-hand side for the Reds.
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