Trent Alexander-Arnold to ‘walk Liverpool streets proudly’ despite bombshell exit
Trent Alexander-Arnold has had a mixed reaction from supporters since announcing he will be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season.
Although Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk resolved their expiring contracts, the right-back has decided that a new challenge awaits him, likely to be at Real Madrid.
However, with one game left to play in the Premier League season, it leaves big questions to be answered by Arne Slot over whether Alexander-Arnold will get any more game time.
This comes after frequent jeers in recent games, which potentially put the players off, with a strong finish wanted after securing the title early.
Liverpool fans won’t like Martin Keown’s comparison
Although not every Liverpool supporter was booing Alexander-Arnold against Arsenal, it was certainly loud enough to become a major talking point of the game.
With the right-back leaving at the end of his contract and therefore on a free transfer, some supporters feel let down by the way he has gone about things.
However, the Dutchman has also made it clear that he wants to do as well as possible up until the end of the season, which does suggest using the best players available.
When asked live on talkSPORT (19 May, 12:28 pm) if he thought the 26-year-old would appear for Liverpool against Brighton, Martin Keown said: “I’d like to think we would see him. I don’t subscribe to this don’t play him, it’s a difficult situation. I think he deserves to play, he’s been an outstanding talent for that football club.
“In fact, when they went out against PSG, when he went off injured that night, I thought that was pretty much the end of the story for Liverpool, so he’s going to be a big miss.”
The former Arsenal defender continued and took a dig at Liverpool complaints, saying: “I think he can walk the streets of Liverpool proudly, like Steve McManaman does now.
“Went off and won two La Ligas and a Champions League, won it at a time when Liverpool weren’t successful, but this man has won everything you can win in a Liverpool shirt.”
Slot showing strength in Alexander-Arnold situation at Liverpool
Keown’s comments did appear to take a slight dig at Liverpool, suggesting that Alexander-Arnold won’t be getting too many sleepless nights as a result of the booing he faced.
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 32 | 3 | 6 |
However, the 26-year-old would probably have hoped to have left Anfield in a better way, feeling as though a legacy was intact.
It will be interesting to see how Slot plays it, but based on what he did last time, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the right-back get another cameo away at Brighton.
Conor Bradley looks set to start again at the AMEX Stadium, with Jeremie Frimpong looking likely to arrive at Anfield as competition soon from Bayer Leverkusen.
The boss has not shown a clear preference either way so far, possibly highlighting why he is so popular and managing to keep everyone on the same page at Liverpool.