Trent 2.0: FSG have already sold a Bradley & Frimpong upgrade at Liverpool
It was a rueful thing to watch Trent Alexander-Arnold opt against continuing his Liverpool journey and instead sign for Real Madrid in June, deciding against renewing his contract on Merseyside.
The 26-year-old’s image in his home city has been tainted by the decision, but the decision was his and he left Anfield as one of the most decorated and accomplished players in the club’s modern history, instrumental in the success of the Jurgen Klopp era.
There was much hope that Liverpool might have retained his services, but FSG and sporting director Richard Hughes moved swiftly to sign a shrewd replacement in Jeremie Frimpong, who joined from Bayer Leverkusen for £29.5m.
The Netherlands international has an infectious personality and is one of the fastest players in the game; however, Frimpong and pre-existing talent Conor Bradley have left something to be desired this term.
Liverpool's right-back conundrum
It’s somewhat telling that Dominik Szoboszlai has played a couple of games in an unnatural right-back berth this season.
The versatile Hungarian has impressed and, in fact, been one of Liverpool’s most impressive players this season, but Frimpong and Bradley should both be gunning to nail down starting spots with consistency.
Frimpong’s early foray into the season was disrupted by an injury sustained on his Premier League debut, while Bradley has spent much of the Slot tenure battling against setbacks of his own.
Neither have covered themselves in glory so far this year. Bradley has started both of Liverpool’s past two matches in the top flight, but he was hooked at the interval against Palace after struggling when on the ball and failing with four of five attempted dribbles.
Of course, the unconvincing form of Ibrahima Konate has hardly helped matters. As with Alexander-Arnold, the Frenchman is being courted by Real Madrid as he heads toward the expiry of his contract, and he has toiled through a number of games already this year.
It all comes back to that wish that Alexander-Arnold still plied his trade with his boyhood club. But, looking a bit further back, we can see that Liverpool may regret having sold their new version of the homegrown hero.
Liverpool sold their next Trent
In July 2022, Nottingham Forest completed the £17m signing of Neco Williams from Liverpool, the Wales international leaving the Reds in search of regular first-team football.
The young full-back had featured 33 times for Liverpool’s senior set-up, claiming six assists, and had completed a half-season loan out with Fulham in the Championship before making the move, thus spending the full span of the Tricky Trees’ Premier League journey since promotion of their own.
Billed as Alexander-Arnold’s understudy at Slot’s Liverpool, Williams had spent his early days cutting his teeth at Liverpool by watching the Three Lions star’s unique ball-playing game and weaving elements into his own style of play.
Trent hailed him as “an amazing talent” with a “bright future”, and now that Williams is realising his potential at Forest and Alexander-Arnold is playing in Spain, there might be a sense of ruefulness from some within the FSG hierarchy that he wasn’t kept on the books for longer.
He’s not his predecessor in Red, let’s be clear about that. Alexander-Arnold made 354 appearances for his boyhood club and registered 92 assists across all competitions, scoring some fantastic goals besides.
Talking of his one-of-a-kind technical qualities, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher once remarked that “it’s like having Kevin De Bruyne playing at right-back”, such is the depth of his skillset.
Williams is wholly different, but perhaps that would be a good thing in this current Slot side, with an emphasis having been placed this summer on reorienting the creative hub to the attacking midfield area.
Though there’s no question that Bradley and Frimpong are talented players with experience at the highest level, Williams’ naturally sturdy defensive style and his ability to operate across a number of positions could have been perfect for Slot, who is presently in a struggle to get a tune out of his existing options.
Middling returns from a creative standpoint hardly tell the full story as far as Williams’ progress at the City Ground is concerned. He became an invaluable player for Nuno, playing on both defensive flanks. Furthermore, Klopp once acknowledged Williams’ “incredible” attacking ability.
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And his consistency within a Forest side that has shifted from relegation battlers to high-flying Europa League contenders has served as a further illustration of his quality.
Data-driven platform FBref also reveal he ranks among the top 17% of full-backs across Europe over the past year for shots taken and the top 18% for carries into the penalty area per 90, with his offensive metrics sure to rise higher still now that Ange Postecoglou is in the hot seat.
Williams signed a new contract at Forest this summer, running until 2029. His ability to have made headway sustainably and across a series of years has been telling, and were he still in the Liverpool mix, it might have been a fantastic dimension for a Slot backline that perhaps needs a bit more security and balance.
Having settled into his role as an established Premier League player, averaging 6.7 successful duels and 2.3 tackles per game, creating a chance every match besides and completing 89% of his passes, Williams is the full package, and could have been a real asset at Liverpool, had he been given time to bloom.
Alas, it wasn’t to be. Liverpool have a wealth of talent at their disposal, but Alexander-Arnold is no longer part of the crew, and Slot has problems that he needs to fix.
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