Why Amar Dedic could be Trent Alexander-Arnold’s replacement
The first option takes Liverpool into familiar territory. The club has strong links with Red Bull and have purchased a fair few players who have played for the Austrian giants in the past.
Dedic is an interesting profile. He is someone who is very progressive for a right-back which is one of Alexander-Arnold’s best assets.
Just taking a look at the Bosnian right-back’s FBref profile, he ranks in the 95th percentile for progressive passes and the 99th percentile for progressive carries.
At 22 years old, he’s already a leader for Salzburg and the senior Bosnian national team. Dedic has even worn the captain’s armband for both his club and his country.
Defensively and physically there will be question marks whether he is ready to make the step-up to the Premier League. But, he definitely has a lot of potential and among the realistic candidates for Liverpool, he is one to consider.
Why Yukinari Sugawara could be Trent Alexander-Arnold’s replacement
This is a player Arne Slot will be very familiar with. Sugawara actually played under the Dutchman while he was at AZ Alkmaar and the fact that he already knows the expectations of what a right-back needs to do in Slot’s system is a huge bonus.
It helps that Sugawara is posting impressive numbers over the last calendar year. He’s averaged close to 10 progressive passes per 90 according to Wyscout, which is not quite Trent levels but it’s still very decent for a right-back.
On top of that, Sugawara has a strong offensive output. He’s averaged 0.13 expected assists and 0.19 goals per 90 over the course of the last calendar year.
The Japanese international has also made a strong start to life in the Premier League, averaging 0.27 goals and assists per 90 so far this season – which is not bad going considering he is playing for Southampton.
Still only 24 years old, he seems like a very attractive target for Hughes, especially if the Reds are also targeting Milos Kerkez, with whom Sugawara formed a formidable duo at AZ Alkmaar during the 2022/23 campaign.
Why Oscar Mingueza could be Trent Alexander-Arnold’s replacement
Barcelona will be ruing letting him go to Celta Vigo for pennies. Mingueza has since established himself as one of the most promising defenders in Spain and he’s also set to be a key part of the senior national team’s future.
He’s not necessarily a typical full-back. Mingueza’s is more of a Gvardiol type of full-back, in the sense that he can also play as a centre-back, but he still has some solid progressive numbers.
Among full-backs, he ranks in the 93rd percentile for progressive passes and the 79th percentile for progressive carries.
This season he has seven goal contributions already in just 12 La Liga matches. He’s relatively quick as well and has decent defensive numbers, although he would need to improve on his 29.65% aerial duel success rate.
At 25 years old, he’s entering his prime and he seems like a decent option. But Liverpool fans will have concerns after the last purchase the club made from Celta Vigo didn’t work out too well for the Reds. If you need to look up who that is, don’t waste your time.
Why Conor Bradley is the obvious Trent Alexander-Arnold replacement
So, we’ve looked at some realistic options out there on the market for Liverpool. However, the Reds could easily look to promote from within, especially with Bradley a ready made replacement.
He’s just as progressive as Alexander-Arnold, although he probably brings more forward runs rather than progressive passes. That’s why he ranks in the 96th percentile for progressive carries and only in the 55th percentile for progressive passes.
But overall, there is a really talented player in Bradley, who also has very solid defensive numbers. He’s in the 95th percentile for ball recoveries, in the 99th percentile for dribblers tackled and clearly thrives in one vs one situations.
Positionally, there may be room for improvement but he’s only 21 years old and he will only get better. If Trent leaves, Hughes may chose to bring in one of the above mentioned names but Bradley will also have a huge chance to establish himself as Slot’s no.1 choice.
