Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer both name the same Liverpool star as part of their ‘perfect player’

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Liverpool once again look like one of the best teams in the world under Arne Slot.

For plenty of Jurgen Klopp’s near nine years at Anfield, the Reds were right up there with the very top teams on the planet.

However, a poor season in 2022/23 damaged those claims, leaving Liverpool in need of rebuilding their reputation a little.

After a season out of the Champions League, though, the Reds look set to put up a challenge in Europe’s premier competition once again.

Slot obviously deserves enormous credit for that, but it’s also fair to say that the Dutchman has benefited from having an extremely talented Liverpool squad at his disposal.

The Reds have a handful of players who can legitimately claim to be the best in the world in their positions. One of those is Trent Alexander-Arnold, who has been paid a high compliment by England legends Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer.

Trent Alexander-Arnold gets ‘perfect player’ nod

Alexander-Arnold has been in the news plenty of late. The Liverpool academy graduate has a precarious contract situation at his boyhood club and could leave at the end of the season.

Obviously, that is a scenario that Liverpool would still like to desperately avoid. Trent is quite possibly the best right-back on the planet and to lose him for nothing would be a real blow.

The one thing potentially stopping the 26-year-old from being the undisputed greatest are his slightly flimsy defensive capabilities.

But in terms of what he can give a team offensively, Alexander-Arnold is very much second to none.

READ MORE: Fabrizio Romano reveals Real Madrid’s plan for signing Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool

This has been demonstrated once more by Lineker and Shearer, two of the most respected pundits in the English game.

Asked to build their ‘perfect player’ based on a variety of attributes for The Rest Is Football, both former strikers selected Liverpool’s No.66 for different qualities.

Lineker is the first to pick Alexander-Arnold, declaring the Scouser to be the player with the best right foot in the game.

Shearer goes next, with the Liverpool star named as the Premier League top scorer’s favoured player for passing.

Who else did they pick?

There were nine different characteristics for Lineker, Shearer and Micah Richards to pick from: left foot, right foot, speed, passing, dribbling, skill, physicality, defending and football IQ.

The fact that Alexander-Arnold is selected by both is perhaps not surprising given his quality, but looking at the names he finds himself alongside really does show what a special talent he is.

For Lineker, he chooses Diego Maradona for left foot, Adama Traore for speed and Glen Hoddle for passing. Lionel Messi gets the nod for dribbling, Zico for skill, Paul McGrath for physicality, Franco Baresi for defending and Johan Cruyff for football IQ.

Shearer meanwhile goes for Roberto Carlos as his left footed choice, himself for right foot, Thierry Henry for pace and Ronaldo Nazario for dribbling. The Newcastle legend goes with Zinedine Zidane for skill, Graeme Souness for physicality, John Terry for defending and Paul Scholes for football IQ.

Alexander-Arnold absolutely belongs in amongst those legends of the game. Liverpool cannot afford to lose him.