Arne Slot NameChecked Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez and Curtis Jones while discussing the exit of Trent Alexander-Arnold, with the Liverpool defender expecting to come to Real Madrid this summer
Liverpool boss Arne Slot has admitted that Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk to sign new contracts loses the pain of losing Trent Alexander-Arnold. Both Salah and Van Dijk were committed last month with two-year deals for the born and bred scouser Alexander-Arnold to tell the newly crowned Premier League champions that he wants to look for a new challenge when his current agreement ends at the end of June.
Alexander -Arnold goes to Real Madrid -and the Spanish giants hope to convince Anfield -bosses to enable the English defender to make an early exit, so he is free to play in the club World Cup. Slot said: “If I had to choose between replacing one of the three or all three, I would certainly have chosen the first option.
“Of course I hoped that all three would stay, so it is still a bit of a disappointment that one of them decided to leave this club. But I am very, very happy that Mo and Virgil have expanded their contracts – and that should not be forgotten.”
Losing Alexander-Arnold for nothing is a huge blow to the club if the 26-year-old would be worth more than £ 70 million on the transfer market. Reports in Spain claimed that Liverpool was ready to pay the right back more money than what is offered at the Bernabeu and that the decision of Alexander-Arnold was about ambition instead of cash.
Slot will give Conor Bradley a start against Arsenal in Anfield – but that means that Alexander -Arnold could come across the entire wrath of the head if he is caused as a replacement. The Reds will probably deliver a new right back in the summer, according to the challenging message from their Dutch manager that the departure of Alexander-Arnold will give him even more energy if he wants to replace one of his most creative players.
Slot said: “If I could make the choice, I would rather stay Trent. But it also gives a little new energy. I am not going to change everything, but it is different.
“Play Trent or play Conor, or play Joe Gomez, or play Curtis Jones – so it brings what I like best about this job I do. I like to find answers to the qualities that we now have in our team, because Conor brings in different qualities than Brent brings in.
“It also gives me a bit of energy. It always gives you energy when new players also come in, or if you have just become a new club. Last year they were all new to me. Trent -rooms do not always have to lead to something negative, let's put it that way.”
Slot forged a reputation for coming up with solutions when he lost a series of important players during his time the leadership of Feyenoord. He inherited a team in 2021 that was stripped of nine regular starters, including Captain Steven Berghuis, but still reached the Europa Conference final.
Despite Luis Sinisterra, Tyrell Malacia and Marcos Senesi to see the Premier League, he led the Rotterdam club to the Eredivisie title. In his last season at Feyenoord, he lost skipper Orkun Kokcu.
Slot's hands were further bound when the Dutch club only allowed him to invest a fraction of the money in the sale of new recruits. That is no problem with which he will be confronted when Liverpool goes on the market, armed with Stapels Premier League and Champions League prize money.
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