Premier League champion Liverpool is disappointed that Trent Alexander-Arnold is leaving at the end of the season but manager Arne Slot said on Friday that a new player will step up to fill his shoes.

Alexander-Arnold, who has been at Liverpool since the age of six, has become one of the best right-backs in the world, winning two top-flight titles, the Champions League and the Club World Cup plus the FA Cup and League Cup with the Reds.

“I think, like everyone who likes Liverpool and is a fan of Liverpool, we’re disappointed because a good human is leaving the club but also a very, very, very good fullback is leaving us as well,” Slot told reporters ahead of the visit of second-placed Arsenal on Sunday.

“I also worked at clubs like AZ Alkmaar and Feyenoord where every season a very good player, or multiple very good players have left … so I am a bit more used to it, maybe.

“The experience I have and, by the way, this club as well, that if a very good player is leaving, the next very good player will step up and that’s probably what’s going to happen now.”

TOO EARLY

Asked if 21-year-old Conor Bradley, tipped by British media as the potential successor to Alexander-Arnold, was ready to step in, Slot said it was too early to make the comparison.

“Let’s not compare him with Trent now already. They are also different types in my opinion,” he said.

“With Conor I think we all see the potential . . . unfortunately he hasn’t been fit throughout the whole season. To become a very good player, you have to be available every single week as well, and that’s the first step he has to take next season.

“But we have a lot of confidence in Conor as a very good fullback for Liverpool and that’s already what he’s shown in the past two seasons.”

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Slot said Bradley, who has started only four league games this term after struggling with multiple injuries, including a thigh issue in February that sidelined him for nearly six weeks, will be in the team on Sunday.

“Conor is going to start because I think he needs playing time as well to get some games under his belt to be prepared for next season,” he said.

Slot added that it was hard to predict how Sunday’s match will turn out, with Liverpool having won the title last month.

“Difficult to predict but both teams look forward to this game. Okay, maybe there is a bit at stake for Arsenal, top four, assume they prefer second to third or fourth, we can only finish as first,” he added.

Arsenal, which was knocked out of the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain in the semifinals on Wednesday, is 15 points adrift of Liverpool, three points above last season’s champion Manchester City and four clear of Newcastle United and Chelsea.