Trent Alexander-Arnold will be ‘found wanting’ if he moves to Real Madrid, believes former Manchester United star Paul Parker, who does not think he will be the best right-back at the club.
Alexander-Arnold is expected to complete a free transfer to the Santiago Bernabeu as his Liverpool contract expires at the end of the season.
It will be the first time the 26-year-old has played for any club other than the Reds and represent a huge challenge for the England international as he takes on the unique experience of playing for the Spanish giants.
Parker has questioned whether he is up to it, believing that Real Madrid’s first choice right-back Dani Carvajal is a better player and raising doubts over Alexander-Arnold’s work-rate.
‘The problem is Trent isn’t a right-back in the same mould or ability as the one they’ve lost in Carvajal. Nowhere near. It’s as simple as that,’ Parker told mybettingsites.co.uk.
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‘People will say Trent can do this and do that, but he’s just not at the same level as Carvajal as a Real Madrid right back. Real Madrid full-backs have never just been about knocking Hollywood passes. They’re about hard work, a work ethic, and getting to the byline to deliver crosses.
‘Even someone like Marcelo, who was technically great, also worked hard. Real Madrid players work incredibly hard, and that’s where I think he’ll be found wanting. The Real players won’t stand for the acts he pulls for Liverpool. He won’t get away with it.’
In a scathing dig, Parker added that Real Madrid is a move too good for the defender to turn down, despite not being good enough.
‘Real coming in for Trent is like when a Championship manager is offered a Premier League job,’ he said. ‘You can’t say no to it, or people will question you, and he can always come back to the Premier League.’
Another former Manchester United right-back, Gary Neville, is not quite as damning in his assessment of Alexander-Arnold, but he agrees that Carvajal will remain the best in the position at Real Madrid.
‘I said that I thought he had to get more serious about his defending – I’ve said that constantly – or else it will cause him problems,’ Neville said on Stick to Football.
‘I think it will cause him a problem at Real Madrid because they have Federico Valverde, who is playing right-back currently, and Dani Carvajal when he’s back – he’s going to have some serious competition.
‘The problem is that he [Carvajal] is 32 and has had a bad injury – but for me, Carvajal is a better full-back than Trent because of what he gives to the team.
‘It’s unbelievable what Valverde is doing for them at the moment, so he’s going to have competition when he goes.
‘Coming back to Trent, I said he needs to get more serious about his defending, and that was proven by the fact he couldn’t get in the England team for many years, and he gets subbed for Liverpool a lot.
‘I’ve never known a right-back get subbed so many times in important periods of matches.’
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