Liverpool manager, Arne Slot, has said that he is very disappointed to see Trent Alexander-Arnold leave the club this summer.
He, however, backed the Reds to quickly adapt to the defender’s departure after he leaves at the end of the season.
Slot revealed that every Liverpool fan would be sad to see Trent leave his boyhood club, but he is already used to his best players leaving him, especially after his previous managerial stints at clubs like AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord
Slot said that he has known Liverpool long enough to be certain that they’ll replace the English defender very well because they have a good record of replacing players the right way.
“Like everybody who likes Liverpool and who is a fan of Liverpool we are disappointed for him leaving because not only a good human being is leaving but a very good full-back is leaving us as well.
I also worked at clubs like AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord where every season good players left, so I am a bit more used to it. The experience I have and this club as well, is if a good very good player is leaving, the next very good player will step up and that is what probably will happen again,” he said.
Reacting to reports that Real Madrid want Alexander-Arnold to join them for this summer’s Club World Cup, Slot simply stated that nobody knows the club Trent will be joining just yet, so he cannot comment on speculations that might be completely false.
According to him, he also cannot tell the supporters how to react to Arnold’s exit, admitting that while it is a bit more negative than he is used to, the player’s decision has to be respected.
The Dutch manager concluded by saying Trent deserves praise for keeping the announcement until after the club won the league, stressing that it helped the team avoid an unnecessary distraction.
“Do you know where Trent is going? He hasn’t said anything about it himself. The only thing he has said that he will leave the club, so it is impossible to comment on where he is going and if that is a club that will play in the Club World Cup. You see by my smile, we both know where he is going to but it hasn’t been said yet.
That people have an opinion about us, whether it’s Trent or me or someone else that works in this industry, that’s not new for anyone. For him, it’s a bit more negative than he’s used to but I don’t follow all of this.
I’m not here to tell the fans how they should react. I will see Trent in a bit. The boys had a few days off as well. I will wait and see how he feels about him announcing he’s going to leave the club.
I did speak to him on WhatsApp but let’s wait and see. I think we are all disappointed, but I think Trent was the first one to say he doesn’t want us as a club and as a team to be too distracted by this announcement. I’m hoping all of the energy goes to the players,” he added.
