Despite his shortcomings at full-back, Trent Alexander-Arnold's Premier League career has shown that his strengths are much greater than his weaknesses.
The 26-year-old's extraordinary creative numbers highlight the huge challenge Liverpool will face to replace him. At least in the Premier League, no defender has shown the same attacking ability at any consistent level.
Arnold's uniqueness is part of the reason why he is loved by Real Madrid.
Of course, the Reds have a possible replacement, Conor Bradley. The 21-year-old has shown great potential as a backup for Arnold in the last two seasons.
Bradley has made a total of 50 appearances in all competitions for Liverpool. The Irish defender has been particularly impressive in Arnold's absence from a knee injury in the second half of last season.
However, Bradley is a very different right-back to Arnold. Despite his impressive attacking ability, Bradley still cannot compare with Arnold in terms of creating opportunities.
According to Opta, Bradley averaged less than half of his expected assists in the 90 minutes than Arnold. The young talent has also made fewer crosses, despite being a faster runner and tending to push up when overlapping.
Bradley does not have the same ability as Arnold to get the ball forward with his passes. The 21-year-old has a much lower pass forward rate than Arnold. And while he could have defended more solidly, its worth noting that Bradley still dribbled past at a relatively high average rate per 90 minutes.
It would be harsh to assess the attacking ability of a young player like Bradley according to the standards set by Arnold. But that is the reality for Liverpool when they have to face the departure of the England international.
Finding a direct replacement for Arnold is perhaps an impossible task for Liverpool. Instead, coach Arne Slot could adjust and mitigate the loss of Arnold's huge attacking contribution in other ways.
Notably, Liverpool are often associated with Bayer Leverkusen defender Jeremie Frimpong. If he successfully recruits the Dutchman, Slot will have more options to fill the Donald Trump void.
