Liverpool must be ‘near perfect’ to challenge Manchester City next season: Trent Alexander-Arnold

LONDON – After a disappointing season that saw them finish outside the Champions League places and fail to contend for any major silverware, Trent Alexander-Arnold said Liverpool must be “near perfect” to challenge treble-holders Manchester City.

He told Sky Sports: “Would we want to finish fifth next season? No. We want to be winning the league, to be challenging in title races and in Champions League football, so to not be in that next season is disappointing.

“We know how to win the league, we know how to challenge City and go toe to toe with them and you need to be near perfect throughout the season, so for us that’s where our heads are at.”

The Reds have taken their initial steps towards that with the signings of midfielders Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton & Hove Albion and Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig for a combined £95 million (S$164.6 million).

The England international described them as “dream players” to up his assists tally next season. He racked up 10 in all competitions for Liverpool last term, down from 19 in 2021-22.

However, the arrival of the duo may mean the 24-year-old could revert to his regular right-back role, having been deployed by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and his England counterpart Gareth Southgate in midfield in most games since April.

Asked about the positional switch, he smiled and said: “I only play where I’m told to play. All I can say is I enjoy playing football, I enjoy playing right-back, I enjoy playing in the middle of the pitch a lot.

“It’s somewhere where I find joy and I’m enjoying the challenge of the two. I would enjoy playing there in the next season, but it’s not my decision where I play.”

Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur’s new boss Ange Postecoglou said on Monday that he will meet with Alexander-Arnold’s England teammate Harry Kane this week to outline his vision for the club after being given no assurances over the striker’s future amid interest from Bayern Munich.

Bayern have reportedly had a £60 million bid for Kane rebuffed by Tottenham, with the German champions believed to be set to return with an improved offer.

Kane starts pre-season training on Wednesday and former Celtic boss Postecoglou is keen to lay out his plans to Spurs’ record scorer.

Grilled on the Kane situation when he held his first press conference since being hired in June, Postecoglou said: “I haven’t had any assurances and I wouldn’t expect any assurances. That’s just my nature. What I know right now is that Harry is part of this squad and he’s looking forward to coming back to training.”

His attempt to win over the 29-year-old, who has just one year left on his contract, will start this week before the squad jet out to Australia, Thailand and Singapore for their pre-season tour.

He said: “What I want is to introduce myself to Harry and give him my vision of the football club and get a sense from him on what he thinks the club needs to do to be successful.”

Winger Manor Solomon has committed his future to Spurs after inking a five-year deal on Tuesday. Tottenham signed the 23-year-old Israel international, who spent last season on loan at Fulham, on a free transfer. AFP