Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher says there is no point playing Trent Alexander-Arnold for the remainder of the season if the Reds' number 66 is going to join Real Madrid when his contract expires.
Arne Slot said before Leicester City that Alexander-Arnold, who has only just returned from injury, was unable to start, but he came off the bench to secure a 1-0 victory. Conor Bradley was in the starting XI ahead of him having not long come back from an injury of his own in recent weeks.
Bradley could be the long-term successor for Alexander-Arnold if he leaves, even though another body would need to be signed as well. And Carragher believes the Northern Ireland defender should be trialed there for the final few games of the season.
"You can't replace [Trent]..." Carragher said on Sky Sports. "The reason we talk about him so much — I think why he's the most talked about full-back we've probably ever seen in the Premier League — is because he's unique, he's different.
"[Micah Richards] just mentioned about him defensively, now, most top full-backs don't get it thrown at them that they're not very good defensively. But he's so unique on the ball; I think I said four or five years ago, it's like having Kevin De Bruyne playing right-back, that's what it feels like in terms of his ability on the ball.
"He can come on and change games, so Liverpool aren't going to replace that. So Liverpool need to replace his creativity, they're not going to do that from right-back, they maybe need to that from an attacking midfield position, or maybe a left-wing position.
"So, the team has to evolve that way. Now, where they can replace him, is Conor Bradley's a right-back. Conor Bradley shouldn't look at Trent and think, "I want to be like him".
"He's got to be like Andy Robertson was when he was in his prime. A proper full-back, up and down, aggressive at the winger, maybe overlapping, getting crosses in, underlapping is what the Liverpool full-backs like to do.
"So you're not going to be able to replace him, so forget that, but the big decision Liverpool have, or a couple of decisions between now and the end of the season, and the summer is... if Trent hasn't committed to the manager for next season, which he hasn't obviously, he shouldn't be starting games. He shouldn't be..."
Liverpool.com says: With the title as good as done at this point, there is a strong argument for not playing Alexander-Arnold. Bradley wasn't ready for a full 90 minutes against Leicester and wasn't playing that well, but it will be interesting to see what happens with the pair next weekend against Spurs.
