Liverpool star Trent Alexander-Arnold has backtracked on his claim that Virgil van Dijk is the best player he has played with and instead selected another fellow Red.
Since breaking through into the first-team at Anfield during the 2016/17 campaign, the right-back has certainly shared the pitch with some of the most talented players in world football. Meanwhile, the 18-capped England international has played with a vast array of talented Three Lions.
Previously asked the question over who the best player he has played with was, he revealed that it was one of his defensive colleagues. Speaking to talkSPORT ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, he replied: “I’m going to have to go Virg [Virgil van Dijk] because for me, he’s the best defender in the world and will go down in history as one of the best.
“One of the best. He is, I would probably say, the most talented player I’ve shared the pitch with. He’s that good.”
There is certainly no doubt that Van Dijk will go down as one of the most transformational players in Liverpool ’s history. Since arriving from Southampton for £75m in 2018, he has played a key role in the Reds lifting their sixth European crown, ending their long wait for a Premier League title and has won a whole host of other titles.
However, it appears that Alexander-Arnold has changed his mind. Asked more recently by GOAL the same question, he instead selected Egyptian forward Mo Salah.
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"I think just score a lot of goals,” he replied. “It's the hardest thing to do in football, so for him to do it so consistently, he's the best."
Salah has been one of the most lethal goalscorers across Europe since completing a move to Liverpool from Roma in 2017. His 186 goals for the club has him sitting joint-fifth alongside iconic former captain Steven Gerrard in the list of the Reds’ all-time top goalscorers.
Despite Jurgen Klopp ’s side struggling for consistency throughout large swaths of this term, Salah still kept his performance levels as high as usual and ended the season with 30 goals and 16 assists in all competitions.
Meanwhile, Alexander-Arnold also recovered to become one of the Reds’ star performers at the end of the campaign. After being handed a new role by boss Klopp, he ended the season with four goals and ten assists in all competitions.
His standout performance arguably came in the 3-0 victory over Leicester last month where he fired in a stunning free-kick.
Whilst Alexander-Arnold is clearly a big fan of his Reds’ colleagues, he was clear on the best player that he has come up against in his career - Lionel Messi. Discussing his reasoning, he said: "I don't know, he's just the best."
