Jamie Carragher believes it may now be time to try Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield for Liverpool after a season of struggles in defence.
The 24-year-old has come under intense scrutiny after letting his standards slip and not performing to the levels Reds fans are used to seeing from him since he broke into Jurgen Klopp's first team.
Liverpool have won it all with Alexander-Arnold at right-back but opposition teams appear to be targeting him and, as well as having a poor season personally, his team are struggling too, sitting sixth in the Premier League and having been dumped out of the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
READ MORE: Jamie Carragher is right about Trent Alexander-Arnold and Manchester United already know it
READ MORE: Andy Robertson hits out at Trent Alexander-Arnold Liverpool critics and questions motivation
Alexander-Arnold is far from the Reds' only problem but his position was placed into the spotlight again in midweek when he was partly responsible for the goal Karim Benzema scored to seal a humbling 6-2 aggregate success for Real Madrid in the Champions League round-of-16 tie between the teams.
After that match Liverpool legend Carragher spoke about how his former club need to buy another right-back to give competition to Alexander-Arnold. And in his latest column for The Telegraph, the Sky Sports pundit spoke of the England international's potential to play in midfield for the Reds.
Carragher wrote: "Watching Trent during Liverpool’s run to Premier League and Champions League glory, he looked exactly what he is. A creative midfielder who has found a place at right-back under a manager who designs a team to spend more time in the attacking third than defending its own box. When the starting XI and system purrs, so does Alexander-Arnold.
"In terms of his passing range, Alexander-Arnold is as good as anyone in Europe and the closest Liverpool have to Kevin De Bruyne or Steven Gerrard. Given how desperate Liverpool are for a creative midfielder, would turning him into a No 8 so he can fill those areas to whip those extraordinary passes into the penalty area be such a radical move? With Stefan Bajcetic out for the season, would Klopp even consider it as an immediate measure?
"I am convinced Alexander-Arnold will return to midfield eventually, whether it is in his late twenties or early thirties. It does not matter how many medals a player has won, the best will always be looking at ways to get better."
READ NEXT:
- Liverpool set Jude Bellingham 'minimum asking price' as Manchester United make transfer decision
- Virgil van Dijk calls on Liverpool to 'do their job' and bring in quality signings
Jude Bellingham transfer latest as Liverpool warned over putting 'all eggs in one basket'
- Liverpool hold £194m gap over Manchester United but City problem is stark
- Stefan Bajcetic has just summed up how bad Liverpool's problem really is
