Trent Alexander-Arnold and Sadio Mane enjoyed great success together at Liverpool (Picture: Getty Images)
Trent Alexander-Arnold admits Liverpool are missing Sadio Mane after his summer exit, but has backed new arrivals to help the Reds rediscover their best form.
Mane enjoyed six excellent seasons with Liverpool, scoring 120 goals in 269 games in all competitions, winning the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup along the way.
He decided he wanted a change of scenery last year and made a summer switch to Bayern Munich, breaking up the fabled front three of Mane, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino.
Liverpool have brought in new forwards, with Diogo Jota arriving in 2002, followed by Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and now Cody Gakpo, but Alexander-Arnold admits they have missed the brilliance of Mane.
‘It’s always going to be different, but I think that’s just part of football,’ Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports. ‘I don’t think you can get used to playing with certain players because the football world chops and changes every single season. You can’t just rely on certain players.
‘Sadio is a world-class player and has been for many years. He’s someone who will help any team he’s at and do the things he does to a level that others can’t, so of course we are going to miss what he brings to the team.
‘But we’ve got other players with different qualities who bring different things to our game who will help us in what we need to do.’
With injuries to Jota and Diaz this season, and Gakpo only arriving this month, much of the responsibility to reinvigorate the front three has been left to summer signing Nunez.
The Uruguayan has scored 10 goals in his first 23 Liverpool games, so it has not been disastrous for him, but he has missed a lot of chances and received plenty of criticism for it.
Alexander-Arnold has no concerns over the 23-year-old, though, and expects him to be scoring even more regularly in the near future.
Darwin Nunez has had a mixed start to his career with Liverpool (Picture: Sportimage)
‘He’s a player who I think it’s easy to just write him off, it’s easy to say he’s not scoring goals,’ the full-back continued. ‘But he’s getting himself into areas and places where he’s able to hurt the opposition and that’s all you can really ask.
‘We have faith that the goals will start coming. No-one here is thinking about that. We are all behind him and we are all supporting him. It’s always good to see him on the scoresheet, but as long as the team wins, that’s all anyone cares about.’
MORE : Darwin Nunez better suited to Tottenham than Liverpool, argues former Reds defender Jose Enrique
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‘Of course we are going to miss what he brings.’
