Could Adam Wharton Be Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold Replacement?

Of the three Liverpool players who were out of contract at the end of the 2024/25 season, the only one yet to sign a new deal is Trent Alexander-Arnold. It raises the now very real possibility of the Liverpool academy product leaving the club, and the issue of how to replace him.

Replacing him will not be easy and is unlikely to be done simply by signing another right-back to take his spot. Alexander-Arnold’s true replacement, who offers similar strengths to the team, is more likely to come in the form of a midfielder. One example of such a player would be Adam Wharton of Crystal Palace.

Contract Situation

This month, within the space of a week, Liverpool announced new contracts for two of its best players, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah. Both had been free to discuss terms with other clubs since January, as their contracts expired this summer.

It has long been thought that Salah and Van Dijk would re-sign, while Alexander-Arnold would join Real Madrid on a free transfer, and this increasingly looks to be the case.

There were a few glimmers of hope for Liverpool fans on the back of his celebration after scoring an important goal against Leicester at the weekend, but this was more likely a player simply celebrating an important goal for his boyhood club, having just worked hard to return from injury before the end of the season, rather than any indication of a new contract signed.

Alexander-Arnold’s unique quality in the right-back position is rare, which is the reason Real Madrid is interested in paying him the big money to secure his services in the first place. Alexander-Arnold’s quality is such that Liverpool will not be able to sign a single player who replaces everything he brought to the team, and it will be impossible to replace him with a right-back alone.

Instead, what it will have to do is replace him using a combination of new signings in other positions. This is where a player like Wharton would come in.

Recruitment Opportunities

It is the kind of scenario that a club’s recruitment team should relish. The new contracts for Van Dijk and Salah mean they are building from a position of reasonable strength and stability. Despite this season’s convincing Premier League title win, there are also fairly obvious areas for improvement in the squad, and the club has a blank canvas with which to work in certain positions.

Wharton would solve a couple of problems for Liverpool on top of going some way to replacing Alexander-Arnold. He would ease the burden on a midfield that has clearly tired towards the end of this season, giving them a quality additional option in box-to-box or deeper midfield roles.

Due to a number of factors—including style of play, expectations, and the way opponents set up against them—players don’t always replicate their output when moving from one team to another.

Wharton plays in a midfield two in front of a back three for Palace, which offers some insurance when pressing further up the pitch, while Liverpool play with two central defenders rather than three.

This might mean more defensive responsibility at Liverpool, but at the same time, a different right-back may mean the deepest Liverpool midfielder has to do less covering in that area—something Ryan Gravenberch has been tasked with at times this season.

At Liverpool, too, the ability of Ibrahima Konate to cover ground and win duels, and Van Dijk’s similar strengths plus his organisational skills, could be insurance enough in itself, and these two center-backs almost perform the job of three players.

Another consideration is that a team playing against Liverpool is likely to be more defensive than one playing against Crystal Palace, potentially making it more difficult for creative players to replicate their numbers when moving between such clubs.

But some midfielders could see their data in these areas boosted further as a team like Liverpool will have more possession than Crystal Palace, giving creative players more touches of the ball and more opportunities to make things happen.

Looking at Wharton’s profile, you would envisage the 21-year-old being a player whose game would improve in a setup like Liverpool’s.

He’s also left-footed—Liverpool currently has no left-footed midfielders in deeper areas—and takes corner kicks, giving them another option at set-pieces.

There are also some similarities between Liverpool and Palace, which would mean the transition from one to the other isn’t too much of a culture shock.

Liverpool can still be direct when needed, and has scored the most goals from counter-attacks in the Premier League this season, with 13.

Palace themselves have been direct at times and, according to Opta, have the second-shortest passing sequence time in the Premier League at 7.89 seconds on average, just behind Nottingham Forest’s 7.48 seconds. Their speed upfield, per Opta’s Direct Speed measurement, is the fourth quickest in the league.

Making The Right Choices

While Liverpool will need to look at how to replace Alexander-Arnold’s passing range, they can also turn to what they want in the right-back position itself.

Alexander-Arnold’s current backup, Conor Bradley, offers something different in that he is able to drive forward with the ball as well as contribute to combination play in midfield.

In some ways, Liverpool might even see Alexander-Arnold’s departure as a chance to strengthen and add balance, moving the progressive passing responsibility into the center of midfield, and looking for new, different strengths at right back.

It is a key summer for Liverpool’s highly-regarded recruitment operation, and during it we will see where the club and Slot want to take this team, and what they want it to look like. How they replace Alexander-Arnold will play a big part in shaping that.