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Arne Slot, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Richard Hughes(Image: Getty Images)

Arne Slot has admitted that he is excited by the prospect of finding a way to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool.

The Reds vice-captain announced on Monday that he would not be signing a new contract with his boyhood club.

Conor Bradley is set to start against Arsenal on Sunday in place of the England international as Liverpool look to life after Alexander-Arnold.



And while Slot admits he would prefer to have retained the services of the 26-year-old, he believes his departure does not necessarily have to be seen as ‘something negative’ as he hinted the club could turn to the transfer market.

“If I could make the choice, I would prefer Trent to stay,” he said.

“Okay, it’s clear, if I could choose between replacing all three or one of the three, I would definitely have picked for only one of the three.

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“Of course, throughout the whole season I was hoping all three of them would stay, so it’s still a bit of a disappointment that one of those three has decided to leave this club.

“But I’m very, very, very happy that Mo and Virgil extended their contracts - and that should not be forgotten.

“It also gives a bit of new energy because we have to find… I'm not going to change everything, but it's different - Trent playing than Conor playing, or Joe Gomez playing, or Curtis Jones playing.

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“So it does bring up the thing that I like about this job I'm doing, that finding answers for the qualities we have now in our team, because Conor brings in different qualities than Trent brings in.

“It is also for me, gives a bit of energy, it always gives you energy if new players come in as well, or if you just joined a new club, so last season all of them were new for me.

“It doesn't always have to lead to something negative, let's put it that way.”

Meanwhile, Slot discussed the importance of the leadership group, previously established by predecessor Jurgen Klopp, as he pointed out Liverpool still possess a number of leaders despite Alexander-Arnold’s looming exit.

The 26-year-old had been tipped to become the next Reds captain after being named as vice-captain by Klopp in the summer of 2023, with skipper Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Alisson Becker and Mohamed Salah joining him in the five-man leadership group.

Alexander-Arnold was initially added to the group along with Robertson and Alisson in the summer of 2021 following the departure of Gini Wijnaldum, with Salah then included following the exits of Jordan Henderson and James Milner two years later.

But discussing his entire squad’s leadership qualities, Slot pointed out that his departing vice-captain was never the most vocal player in the dressing room anyway.

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“What do you mean with leadership group?” he said, unaware of the system set up by Klopp.
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