Graeme Souness makes bold Trent Alexander-Arnold Liverpool statement - 'I understand'
Liverpool hero Graeme Souness has delivered his verdict on what might come next for Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Liverpool icon Graeme Souness admits that he understands why Trent Alexander-Arnold may want to seek a new challenge away from the Reds. Alexander-Arnold is the sole remaining Liverpool player set to be out of contract in the summer after Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah agreed new two-year deals.
Alexander-Arnold is reportedly considering an offer from Real Madrid, but he's keeping his future plans a secret. It's widely anticipated that a move to the Spanish giants will come to fruition when his contract with Liverpool expires at the end of this season.
Real initially made their interest known on New Year's Eve, but the Reds were not interested in entertaining their advances. Despite rumours that the Spanish giants were prepared to part with £20million instead of waiting until the summer and paying no transfer fee, Liverpool had no intention of letting Alexander-Arnold go.
And, now, former Reds midfielder Souness has had his say on the full-back's potential next switch in an interview with Sky Sports News on Monday. "I understand why he [Trent] may fancy another challenge, especially with Real Madrid," said the Scot.
"He's been there since he was 10-years-old. He's won everything with them so I understand that challenge, but he may go and not like it wherever he goes and come back, because I'm sure he'll be welcome back."
Souness added: "But they've got Conor Bradley, who I think is going to be a real player for Liverpool. High energy, likes to get forward, he gets to the byline more than Trent would but, of course, Trent's got that ridiculous kicking ability that very few people I've ever seen play football have.
"But the other two [Salah and Van Dijk] are irreplaceable. And I think it's only good news for Liverpool that they signed two-year deals."
When it was put to him that a rebuild might be required at Anfield, Souness responded: "He [Slot] completed the biggest thing getting those two to sign - because there aren't replacements for them - and he's in that wonderful position where he can cherry pick. He can sit back. He's not buying under pressure.
"At a big club, time is not your friend, so the temptation is to go in and do things quickly, but he's had that luxury, like lots of Liverpool managers have had that luxury of sitting back. We've got the group that's winning things and then just cherry picking the best ones that then pop up."