Liverpool star right back Trent Alexander-Arnold is apparently close to signing a five-year deal with Real Madrid and will leave Anfield upon the conclusion of the 2024/25 Premier League season.
So here are the three best replacements for the generationally talented, homegrown Liverpool man, ranked in order from worst to best.
3. Jeremie Frimpong, Bayer Leverkusen
Jeremie Frimpong would have been a more popular option a summer ago, but his stock has fallen, even as Bayer Leverkusen remain Bundesliga title contenders in 2024/25.
The problem with Frimpong is that he is actually everything people falsely accuse Alexander-Arnold of being. See, Frimpong isn’t a real right back. He can’t play defense. Like, at all.
Frimpong is a winger masquerading as a wing back, and whereas Alexander-Arnold can at least defend well in one-on-ones, Frimpong is pretty much just an attacking outlet.
Now, he’s an excellent attacking outlet, and one that Arne Slot can maximize while somewhat hiding defensively. Frimpong has a proven track record and great end product, including as a goal-scorer.
But because he’s such a liability defensively, Frimpong can’t be considered the best option at right back, even as he is the most equipped to recover Alexander-Arnold’s lost offensive production. He won’t be cheap either, since everyone knows he’s good.
2. Denzel Dumfries, Inter Milan
Denzel Dumfries is the most marquee option at the right back position, and if Inter Milan were smart, they wouldn’t even entertain the idea of losing one of the most athletic and well-rounded right wing backs in the world.
Because Dumfries is so stout defensively, he can play as a right back in a traditional back four and is probably a better defensive option than Alexander-Arnold, so, in that sense, he could be an upgrade.
Dumfries forms one half of the most devastating outside back duo in world football, as he and Federico Dimarco are elite athletes who have perfected the timing of their runs.
The Dutchman and Euro 2020 breakout star is so good at getting into the penalty box, and it seems like he has the energy of two men on that right flank. Liverpool may have an inside track for top Dutch talent with Slot as their coach, so if there’s any chance they can nab Dumfries, they have to take it.
1. Conor Bradley, Liverpool
But the best option for Liverpool is to stick with what they’ve got. Alexander-Arnold was a homegrown talent who blossomed into arguably the world’s best right back and certainly the best creator at the position that we’ve seen since Dani Alves at Barcelona.
So why not give Conor Bradley the keys to the kingdom? He had one big test in the first half of the season against Real Madrid in the league phase of the 2024/25 Champions League, and he passed it with flying colors by shutting down Kylian Mbappe, the world’s best attacking player, in a 2-0 Liverpool win.
Bradley looks like a solid athlete and a smart, well-rounded right back with grit in him. He’s more Andrew Robertson than Alexander-Arnold, but with Robertson declining on the left anyway, why not have Bradley slot in as the starting right back?
He is a free way of replacing the free agent Alexander-Arnold, and since Liverpool may find it hard to sign Frimpong or Dumfries from an economic standpoint anyway, they could just pocket the money and use the difference on a striker upgrade for Darwin Nunez.
Joe Soriano covers West Ham for Green Street Hammers and writes about Real Madrid for The Real Champs. He has extensive experience covering world football since 2014. Joe is an editor for The Trivela Effect, where he covers the biggest clubs in European football. He has watched professional sports regularly since 2002 and can be found playing the same sports he covers with his friends.