Glen Johnson: ‘Trent Alexander-Arnold will be guaranteed trophies at Real Madrid’

Despite an impressive start to Arne Slot’s tenure as Liverpool manager, the futures of star trio Mo Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Virgil van Dijk remain unclear, with all three out of contract at the end of the season. The club’s former right-back Glen Johnson, responding to reports linking Alexander-Arnold with a move to Real Madrid, believes the England international will be “guaranteed” trophies if he moves to the Santiago Bernabéu in the summer. In an exclusive chat with Betfred, Glen tells us why he believes Arsenal are Manchester City’s biggest threat in the Premier League title race, why Martín Zubimendi is “kicking himself” after turning down a move to Anfield, plus much more.

After the eventful 2-2 draw at the Etihad stadium on Sunday, who do you believe is the biggest threat to Manchester City reclaiming the Premier League title, Arsenal or Liverpool?

“I think it’s pretty open but if I had to pick one, then I’d probably have to say Arsenal. That’s not just because of their performance on Sunday, but they’ve been banging on the door for the past couple of years, they’re not going anywhere, they haven’t dropped their standards and they were very, very close to winning away at Manchester City, which is something that nobody else really does. I’d definitely say that Arsenal are the biggest threat, but I still believe that it’s a three-horse race.”

With no return date set for the return of Martin Ødegaard, do you believe Arsenal can continue to fully compete without him?

“Yes. He’s obviously one of their key men, but I believe the reason that Arsenal have been competing is because they’re not reliant on a single player. The whole squad has been standing up and pulling their weight. Every team misses their best players, but it’s not as if Ødegaard is the guy scoring 20 goals for them. However, he is super influential, but I do believe Arsenal could handle losing a couple of their players because the whole squad seems to be performing.”

A report in the Independent has claimed that Real Madrid are targeting Premier League trio Rodri, Trent Alexander-Arnold and William Saliba this summer. Focusing on Trent, do you believe his close friendship with Jude Bellingham could have any influence on whether he makes the move to the Santiago Bernabéu or not? 

“I’d say a very small influence to be honest. The club is 95% of the pull itself but of course, if he speaks to Jude and Jude tells him how great it is there, then that could make his decision final. Let’s face it, if Real Madrid come calling, then that’s where most players will want to go. Jude could be the final piece in the puzzle when it comes to Trent making his decision, but I believe Trent would be up for the deal anyway, regardless of whether Jude is there or not.”

Trent was recently quoted saying the following regarding his future: “The most important thing is always trophies if I am honest. I want to win trophies, I am a player who is highly motivated by trophies and winning things and being elite. So that is probably the main factor of anything, if you have a personality that is elite, who wants to win and will do anything to win then that is what drives me.” Do you believe Trent will have to move to Real Madrid to fulfil those ambitions or can he achieve them under Arne Slot at Liverpool?

“If you go to Real Madrid, you’re guaranteed trophies. That’s a fact. Liverpool aren’t guaranteed trophies, but they’re very capable of winning them. Real Madrid are guaranteed to win things so for Trent, it’s never going to be about money at that level because everybody’s paid very well, so if it’s trophies that he wants, then Real Madrid will guarantee that, but Liverpool fans would love to see him stay and fight for trophies at Anfield.”

If Trent moves to Real Madrid on a free transfer at the end of the season, how do you believe he’ll be perceived by the fans of Liverpool? Steve McManaman made the move in similar circumstances in 1999 and the club’s fans were unhappy with the player. Do you believe it will be the same for Trent if a move to the Spanish capital comes to fruition this summer?

“I think it’ll be absolutely fine. Trent’s a local lad and he wouldn’t be leaving on bad terms. He’s been with the club for 20 years and he’s been professional, never fallen out with the club and has won everything with them. The reality is, if the club has offered him a deal that isn’t worth his while, then that’s their fault and I believe the fans will understand that. 

“All good things come to an end and I’m sure he'll leave on good terms. However, I do believe that Trent would ideally want to end his career at Liverpool.”

There are rumours that Liverpool could be targeting a defensive midfielder and left-sided centre-back in the January transfer window. If there’s any truth to this, who would you ideally, and realistically, want to see Liverpool sign in those two positions?

“At centre-back, I’d say Marc Guéhi. He’d cope fine being the left-sided centre-half and the fact that he didn’t move in the summer proves that he’s still available. I think he’d bite your arm off at the opportunity to sign for Liverpool and I believe it would be a great deal.”

“In regards to a defensive midfielder, I was hoping they would have signed Adrien Rabiot when he was a free agent. That’s not very likely anymore because he’s joined Marseille, but I think they’ve missed out on a good player that was a free agent. Those deals don’t come around often for experienced players at his level.”

Do you believe Ryan Gravenberch could occupy that ‘number six’ role for Liverpool on a long-term basis?

“I’ve been impressed by what I’ve seen of him this season and he’s obviously a great player, but I believe he offers more going forward. It’s a bit like what we saw last season with Alexis Mac Allister because even though he’s also very good going forward, he has a great footballing brain and is capable of occupying other areas. 

“I think Ryan could occupy that area in the meantime but when a player is better going forward, then it’s difficult for them mentally to sacrifice that for an entire season. In their blood, they want to get forward and overtime you can see them being out of position more often. However, he’s doing a great job in that role at the moment.”

According to a report by Estadio Deportivo, a Spanish outlet, Real Sociedad’s Martín Zubimendi is said to be “regretting” his decision to opt against a move to Anfield in the summer. Ultimately, were you shocked that he never took on the opportunity the first time around?

“You can respect his decision to remain loyal to his club because it’s hard to turn Liverpool down when they come knocking. Everybody would like the play for them, so I’m surprised he turned the move down in the first place. If he’s reportedly regretting the decision now, then I can totally understand that, especially when you consider that Real Sociedad are struggling this season in La Liga. He’ll be kicking himself knowing that he could have been challenging for the Premier League title, but instead he finds himself fighting relegation in La Liga.”

Do you believe Darwin Núñez still has a chance of being a success in the long-term at Liverpool?

“Yes I do. I don’t know who Liverpool could realistically sign that’s better than him. I don’t know if I’m missing something, but I can’t understand why they’re are so many question marks surrounding him. He’s not a goal machine, but he’s a threat every time he plays and he’s a pain in the backside for defenders. I can see him being a success at the club in the long-term.”

After impressing against AC Milan in the Champions League midweek, do you believe Cody Gakpo deserves to start for Liverpool on a more regular basis?

“I believe he deserves too, but the problem is that there’s so many other great players in his position, so where does he play? That’s the biggest problem facing him. They’re all good enough to play, but only a few of them can start for Liverpool and it will be the players that are in form and scoring. This is the beauty of playing for a big club.”

After a move to Anfield failed to materialise during the transfer window, where would Anthony Gordon rank on your wishlist for potential Liverpool signings next summer?

“I really like him as a player, but where would he play at Liverpool? I think a few of the players at Liverpool in his position would be ahead of him in the pecking order if that move was to happen. As a player I like him, but is he a player that Liverpool really need? I’m not sure, but it could make more sense if Mo Salah was to leave. If Mo stays however, then I don’t believe they need him. I don’t believe he gets ahead of [Luis] Díaz, [Darwin] Núñez or Cody [Gakpo]. He’s a great player that you’d want around, but I don’t believe he’d want to move to Liverpool to be third or fourth choice.”

How highly do you rate Nicolas Jackson? Have you been impressed with his start to the season and how much potential do you believe he has? How many Premier League goals do you believe he will get for Chelsea this season?

“I’ve been impressed with how he’s started the season, but I was also impressed with how he started last season and he then tailed off a little bit. Hopefully this time around he’s got used to the Premier League and he doesn’t tail off because he’s already shown that the ability is there, he just needs to do it more often. I think he can get around 15 Premier League goals for Chelsea this season and I think he would be delighted with that. If he can get to 18, then that would be a great season for him. I think he’s capable of achieving this and he’s got a better chance of doing so in a better Chelsea side.”

The Sun have suggested that both Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town are interested in signing Ben Chilwell in January. Do you believe Ben would be open to joining either of those clubs?

“At the minute, he probably can’t believe that he’s not involved at Chelsea. The manager made it clear that he’s not part of his plans and I think that’s a bit crazy when you consider Chilwell’s standard. You can totally understand why Crystal Palace and Ipswich would be interested in signing him and even though they’re not the same stature as Chelsea, I’m sure Ben would prefer to be playing somewhere else than not being involved at Chelsea. He’s probably got an interest in staying local, but if is available, then I believe there will be other clubs higher up the table that would be interested in signing him too. I believe he’s more than capable of playing for a top Premier League club.”

Marseille reportedly want to sign Mykhailo Mudryk and considering his struggles at Chelsea, do you believe Mykhailo is cut out for the Premier League?

“We’re yet to see it. We’ve seen flashes of his talent and there've been times when he’s looked unstoppable, but we haven’t seen it often. At the moment, it doesn’t look like he’s cut out for the Premier League because we would have seen it by now if he was. Maybe his time is up. I’ve been supportive of him previously, but there’s reasons why the managers he’s had don’t trust him and when he’s had the opportunities to play, we’ve not seen enough from him. Chelsea bought him for a lot of money, so they’re either going to have to stick with him or take a big loss on him.” 

And finally, after their 3-0 home defeat to Chelsea on Saturday, are you already worried for Julen Lopetegui as West Ham United manager?

“I thought it was going to be a positive season for West Ham with all the signings they made in the summer, with Max Kilman being one of the outstanding ones. I was thinking that they were going to kick on and they haven’t. On Saturday, the way they started killed them and Chelsea could do that to anyone, so if you put a line through that, they have shown glimpses of quality in the other games they’ve had. I wouldn't be too worried about Lopetegui yet because it’s still early days and he needs to be given time to settle in and get the team playing the way he wants them to play. It’s worth seeing how the next couple of months pan out.”