Glen Johnson: ‘Trent Alexander-Arnold will stay at Liverpool if they win the Premier League’

With the futures of an array of key Liverpool players still up in the air, the club’s former full-back Glen Johnson believes Trent Alexander-Arnold will remain at Anfield if they win the Premier League title this season.

In an exclusive chat with Betfred, Glen tells us why he believes Alexis Mac Allister has been the best player in the country in 2024-25, why he’d love to see Michael Carrick back at West Ham United, and he starts by discussing Chelsea’s Premier League title credentials…

“I don’t think you can write them off at the moment. They’re certainly taking the right steps forward and the manager’s doing the right thing by trying to take the pressure off the team and allow them to perform without it. 

“They’re very consistent, they’re winning games, the hard way sometimes, but whether they can sustain it for an entire season is something we don’t know yet. At the moment, they’re right in the race.

“I think Arsenal will come good because they’ve been so consistent for the last couple of years, so I guess that Chelsea will finish third. Arsenal to finish second, Liverpool to finish first and Manchester City to finish fourth, which sounds mad to say, but that’s the way I think it’ll finish at the moment.

“City are very close to being out of the title race. As we know, Manchester City are world class, but at this moment it doesn’t look like they could sustain a title challenge. The next few weeks are going to be huge and if they don’t go on a big run now then Liverpool could go even further ahead with their game in hand. If they can add to their lead, then you believe it’ll have to be over for Manchester City. City need to go on a magical run and hope that teams do them a favour along the way.

“Chelsea just look so much more like a team. They’ve always looked like good players, but they looked like a team of individuals. Enzo looks as if he’s built them into a team, with all the players pulling in the same direction. They all charge around, they’re celebrating when they’re making certain tackles, fighting for each other and when good players do that, you get performances and you get wins.

“You need standout players like Cole Palmer, but that’s obvious. Everybody’s just raised their game by 15 per cent and they’re a group of very good players. Every one of them is capable and when good players pull together and pull in the right direction, then that’s a gamechanger at this level.

“I think it’s the best I’ve seen Enzo Fernandez play since he’s been at Chelsea and now he looks like a player. He’s getting goals, controlling games and that’s what you expect of somebody with his price-tag. He’s their captain, so he must be a good personality around the club. He’s pulling this team in the right direction.

“There’s a lot of great players in the Premier League, but considering what Cole Palmer does and the way he does it, if he’s not in everybody’s top three, then it would be interesting to see who’s above him. He keeps scoring goals at big moments in big games.

“Jadon Sancho’s move from Manchester United looks like a completely one-sided deal. These days, £23 million for a player like that, it’s like giving him away. What he’s done in the last few weeks is what we know he’s capable of, but he just needs to do it more often. He looks like he’s enjoying himself and that’s why he’s putting in performances, so the manager and his backroom staff deserve credit too because these players that weren’t performing are now, so getting Jadon to perform at a cost of £23m could be the best deal ever.

“Chelsea’s defence could be their downfall in the title race because if you’re capable of scoring four goals away against Tottenham, then you’d like to think you could outscore anybody, but Tottenham gave it to Chelsea on Sunday. They gave away two ridiculous penalties and that changed the game, so that game could have easily been 4-2 to Tottenham. It was a great game to watch, but it wasn’t as if Chelsea dominated it, they just made less mistakes than Tottenham, so they got away with it, really. Against the top, top sides, you’re not going to score four goals after being 2-0 down. The top teams would shut it down and that’s what will stop you winning the league.

“There’s pressure on Ange Postecoglou because it always seems as if Tottenham take two steps forward and two steps back. They’re really good one minute and then they’re really bad the next. They’re going to have to do well in the cups to make people forget about their league position.

“If they sack him, then what are they going to do? They may as well stick with a manager that’s already done a good job. They’re clearly nowhere near where they’re capable of being in the league, but I think Ange is the right man for the job to be honest because I don’t think any other manager will be able to come in and change it around any quicker than he could.

“You like it when somebody’s got an identity and wants their team to play in a certain way, but at the end of the day, the game’s about winning. If it isn’t working, then you need a plan B or C and you need to adapt to the team you’re coming up against. You can’t just be ignorant in your ways and think that’s always going to work. All the best managers over the years have adapted the way they play to suit what benefits their team. I don’t know if the players are buying into what he wants to do, but sometimes you need to bloody win a game. It’s a good thing to have an identity, but you need to ensure that you win at the same time.”

On Chelsea being linked with Alexander Isak and Liam Delap….

“Isak’s a fantastic player, for sure, but I’d want to see him do it more for that sort of money. He’s capable of doing everything, he’s calm in front of goal and he scored a banger last week against Liverpool. He’s also got a calm slotted finish in him as well, which is more impressive, but to be worth £115m, you should produce more often and over a longer period of time. I can definitely understand why the big clubs would be after him, because when he’s on it he looks great.”

“Delap’s scored goals in a struggling team this season, he’s English and he’s 21 years old, so that’s where the value is. You could understand why a club would want to buy him now for a relatively cheap price, similar to what Chelsea did with Cole Palmer, and take the risk. If he’s scoring goals in a struggling team, then he’s going to score more in a better team and eventually he would be worth double what a club’s willing to pay for him now. 

“I’d still say that Chelsea need another striker and would want one. It’s easy to forget that you need one when your team’s playing well and winning. Nicolas Jackson’s come good again, but he’s come good before and gone cold again, so if he can maintain this form, then the need for a new striker would be less. I still think they need another striker there for when he goes cold again, to help him move up a gear. Nicolas just needs to perform more consistently.”

“There’s clearly a lot of games going on between Mo Salah and Liverpool, and Mo knows that he’s in a powerful position. He’s playing the game and probably wants to stay, but he’s just using all these tactics to get himself an extra few years more than Liverpool want to give him or whether it’s money or whatever. 

“He knows he’s in the driving seat and can pretty much do what he wants. He may feel like talking to the press is his last resort and so he can let people know that he wants to stay. All the negotiations are just mind games.

“Trent Alexander-Arnold to Manchester City? That move won’t happen. I’d be very surprised if it does, but we’ve seen weirder things happen in football. If Trent’s available on a free, then I believe every club will want him. Bayern Munich would want him, Real Madrid would want him, everybody would want him, so I’d be very surprised if he went to Manchester City and upset everybody connected with Liverpool. That move won’t happen.

“If Liverpool win the Premier League, then I believe he will stay. I don’t think he wants to leave and I don’t think Liverpool want him to leave, but the longer this goes on, then the less likely it is that he will stay. He’s going to be at Liverpool or Real Madrid next season. I don’t believe he’ll go anywhere else and I don’t believe any other club can compete with them two. If Liverpool win the league, then I think he’ll stay.

“I still think Andy Robertson’s in the top five full-backs in the Premier League, but he’s maybe not hitting the heights that we’re used to seeing. I still believe that he’s putting in good performances and he’s still a top player for Liverpool, but of course everybody needs replacing eventually or adding competition for their position. Who could challenge him now? I don’t know, but you need to freshen things up all the time as it keeps good players on their toes. I still believe that he has a lot to give at Liverpool.

“An unsung hero is Alexis Mac Allister. He’s a player that does all the simple things so well. The likes of Mo Salah and Cole Palmer will get the acclaim, but I believe if you spoke to any player in that Liverpool dressing room, they’d say that Mac Allister should be one of the first names on the teamsheet. He’s an unsung hero that does things very neatly and his teammates will give him the credit he deserves for that.”

On reports claiming that Xavi Simons and Nico Williams could be heading to the Premier League…

“For his size, Xavi Simons is quite physical and he’s very good technically, so I believe he’s the type of player that would thrive in the Premier League. He’s playing at the top level, for a good team and we always say it’s risky signing a player that’s never played in the Premier League, but with a player like him, I don’t think it’s risky at all. £66m’s not too bad for a player that’s going to be knocking on the door for a starting place in the team.

“I don’t believe either Chelsea or Liverpool needs Nico Williams, but I believe he’s a fantastic player and it’ll be hard for either club to turn down the opportunity of signing him if he’s available. I think he’d probably improve both teams, but say if he goes to Liverpool, Luis Díaz gets less time, Darwin Nunez gets less time and if Mo Salah goes, then there could be a possibility there.

“Who needs him most? Probably Chelsea I’d say. I don’t think either need him, but he’s a very good player and if he becomes available, then you need to get him when you can.”

“It’s difficult for me to say that I want West Ham to replace Julen Lopetegui, but they’re too good to be where they are in the league. If he were to get sacked, then I’d like to see Michael Carrick get a chance. We know how Graham Potter likes to play football, but are the players good enough to play how he wants? I don’t know. If Lopetegui was to go, then I’d probably want to see Michael Carrick have a go because of his connection to the club and the fans would love him obviously.

“The mess at Manchester United’s there for everybody to see. It’s been a mess for a long, long time. You’ve seen how Chelsea have turned it around and Manchester United have a lot of great players, but they’re a team of individuals. There’s a lot of mess going on off the pitch that’s dripping down onto the pitch and it’s almost as if they have to build the club up from the ground again. They need to let the dust settle off the pitch, get the foundations back in place and get the players enjoying themselves again because, for whatever reason, one minute you think they’re onto something and the next minute they’re not.

“I don’t think Ruben Amorim was stupid enough to go into the job thinking it would be easy because I’m pretty sure he went into the job knowing that he had a tough task on his hands. He’s a young guy with bundles of energy and there’s a lot of work that he needs to do with the club, behind the scenes as well. They need to start performing now because Manchester United shouldn’t be where they are in the league. I think the job’s a bigger task than he would have thought, but I don’t believe for a second that he thought it was going to be easy.

“Brighton and Nottingham Forest have done so well this season and I don’t believe they’ll finish in the top four, but they have a chance of qualifying for European football via fifth, sixth or seventh place. The league table doesn’t lie at this point in the season. Manchester United and Tottenham aren’t performing and they’re doing other clubs a favour.”

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