Liverpool [UK], May 10 : Liverpool head coach Arne Slot outlined how difficult it was for Trent Alexander-Arnold to decide that it was time for him to leave the club at the end of the ongoing season.
Slot has already confirmed that Trent would be dropped from the playing XI in place of the young Conor Bradley in their penultimate Premier League fixture of their title-winning campaign against Arsenal on Sunday.
The decision to drop Trent from the starting line-up comes in the aftermath of the 26-year-old's decision to leave Anfield, ending his two-decade-long association with the club to find a new challenge.
Slot urged the Liverpool fans to send positive energy to the departing English right back and said while speaking to reporters, as quoted from Goal.com, "We are all disappointed, but Trent is the first one who said he would prefer us as a team and a club not to be distracted too much by this announcement. I am hoping all the energy on Sunday goes to the players and [as little] as possible to Trent - unless it is positive, then they can do whatever they want."
"As a human being, you can maybe understand that he [Alexander-Arnold] wants a new challenge because, if he is so many years in the same league, some players then want to experience something else. It's up to every individual himself. I'm the type of human being who can understand a lot of arguments. That's not to say I would make the same choice. It was a really difficult decision for him," he added.
The Dutch manager lavished praise on the 21-year-old Bradley and compared him to Paris Saint-Germain's Achraf Hakimi, who is one of the best right-backs in the world.
"They all run a lot, but Conor is in his own league. Comparable maybe with [Achraf] Hakimi at PSG. He is everywhere during the game as well. But Hakimi is 26. He is much more used to doing this every single week. He needs time, Conor, and a good programme to keep him fit. To become a very good player you have to be available every week, and that is the first step he has to take next season," he said.
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