The issues with Liverpool's ideal Alexander-Arnold replacement - and why his legacy should be secureThe issues with Liverpool's ideal Alexander-Arnold replacement - and why his legacy should be secure
The issues with Liverpool's ideal Alexander-Arnold replacement - and why his legacy should be secure | Liverpool FC via Getty Images
Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to leave Liverpool for Real Madrid - so what comes next?
We’re just a few fine financial details away from one of the biggest free transfers football has seen in its modern era – Trent Alexander-Arnold, in his prime, will almost certainly join Real Madrid this summer after Liverpool allowed his contract to wind down. It is, by any standards, a big deal.
Some fans are furious at Alexander-Arnold for leaving Liverpool. Others are angry at their owners, Fenway Sports Group, for letting it come to this in the first place. Either way, it’s happening, and that means that what comes next immediately becomes more important.
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Fortunately, Liverpool seem to have a replacement lined up already, unless the rumour mill has got everything wildly wrong – Bayer Leverkusen’s Jeremie Frimpong is a long-term target and seems likely to be one of Arne Slot’s key targets this summer. But assuming that’s true, is Frimpong the right man for the job? And should Alexander-Arnold’s legacy really be tarnished by his decision to leave?
Jeremie Frimpong could be ideal for Liverpool – but there’s one problem
The 24-year-old Frimpong was sublime throughout Leverkusen’s astonishing ‘invincible’ season in 2023/24 while his output in the final third has slowed down slightly this campaign – he’s scored four Bundesliga goals so far compared to nine last year and eight the year before – he remains one of the most dynamic wing-backs in Europe.
A side-by-side comparison with Alexander-Arnold flatters the Dutchman in some areas, especially in terms of his movement. Alexander-Arnold is scarcely a slouch off the ball, but Frimpong is faster and even better at hitting gaps between defenders.
Frimpong makes almost three times as many downfield receptions of passes and close on three times as many successful dribbles. While Alexander-Arnold has a passing range that the Leverkusen man can’t match, he makes up for it by attacking defences far more directly.
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While Frimpong has a different style of play and a different way of delivering his end product, the results are just as effective. Over the past three seasons, Alexander-Arnold has been responsible for seven goals and 19 assists in the Premier League – Frimpong, by comparison, has scored 21 and set up the exact same number in Germany. One can quibble with the difficulty levels of the leagues, but there’s little doubt that Frimpong offers as much creativity down the flank as Alexander-Arnold while scoring considerably more often.
The problem is that Leverkusen have a very different tactical set-up to the one which is in use by Slot. Whereas Liverpool operate a back four, Leverkusen use a back three, meaning that there is greater defensive cover and allowing Frimpong to operate as a winger more than a full-back.
Would Frimpong be as effective in a back four? It’s not clear. He has a better success rate with his tackles and one-on-ones than Alexander-Arnold, but is unquestionably an attacking asset and not a defender at heart. That’s true of Alexander-Arnold to a certain extent, but his passing quality means that he can be a threat from deeper, more defensive areas, something that isn’t true of the Leverkusen man.
Slot may well want to move towards a back three anyway. That’s the system he used in the Netherlands and while it made sense to use a back four given the way the squad he inherited was constructed, he may change his methods following a summer rebuild. If he did push his wing-backs even further forward and provide more cover at the back, Frimpong would be a perfect fit.
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Should Liverpool fans be upset with Trent Alexander-Arnold?
Whoever fills Alexnader-Arnold’s boots next season, there will be some degree of resentment towards a player who is leaving Liverpool after nearly two decades of association with the club.
For some fans, this is a potential club legend and a dressing-room leader abandoning the club for free, leaving them in the lurch. It’s a sentiment widely shared across social media – that this is doing damage to the club, and as such tarnishes the legacy of a man who has won four (soon to be five) major trophies in red.
There’s no doubt that his departure on a free will harm Liverpool financially, even if Frimpong came in and proved to be a natural fit. Most sources suggest that the Dutchman will cost something in the region of £40-50m – and they will get nothing from Real Madrid for Alexander-Arnold.
But who’s fault is that? Most big teams consistently update the contracts of their star players every 18 months or so to avoid this exact scenario – instead, Liverpool failed to do so and now they might lose a star player in his prime, not to mention that Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk could depart as well.
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And sure, Alexander-Arnold did once say that he would rather win the Ballon d’Or to another Champions League. Maybe he is less of a team player than might be hoped. But that’s his business, and he has the same right to a change of scenery and a boost in earnings as the rest of us. It’s the responsibility of his club to ensure that they benefit financially from players who chose to leave, and the way they’ve handled their current contract situation borders on gross negligence.
The negative reaction to Alexander-Arnold also speaks to a continued disconnect between what many supporters want their clubs to be – and what they actually are. Fans want players to show loyalty to their teams because they believe those teams to be community institutions, directly linked by heart and soul to the local populace. Leaving such an institution feels like a betrayal, one that’s unthinkable to a fan who would never switch teams.
The problem is that football clubs, at the top level at least, haven’t been like that for decades. They’re multi-billion pound investment vehicles churning out profits for American hedge fund owners or Middle Eastern petrostates. They aren’t run for their communities. They’re entertainment businesses run for profit.
And they treat their players as such – as commodities to be bought and sold as required. Clubs almost never show ‘loyalty’ to their own players in a way that could be detrimental to their own interests. Clubs sell players when they want to, often forcing them out to turn a quick buck or furnish a rebuild, and years of service and status with the fans doesn’t play into it.
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If Liverpool thought that getting rid of Alexander-Arnold would be good for them, they would have done it without batting an eyelid. Surely, then, it’s unfair to ask Alexander-Arnold to act any differently? He saw a chance to make more money, get a change of scenery, live in one of the world’s finest cities and become a superstar to a new set of fans, and he seems set to take it. It’s on Liverpool’s owners to have provided a better alternative, and they didn’t.
Alexander-Arnold has been a brilliant player for Liverpool, and it’s fair to say that they wouldn’t have won the Champions League in 2019 without him, not least due to his heroics against Barcelona in that epic semi-final. Him leaving will be a crying shame, but he deserves appreciation and his wishes deserve respect – and if anyone deserves anger as to how the situation has panned out, it’s FSG.
Related topics:Trent Alexander-Arnold
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