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Jurgen Klopp was once bewildered by the sight of Trent Alexander-Arnold operating in the centre of midfield.

It was September 2021, and England manager Gareth Southgate played Liverpool’s dynamic right-back there in a World Cup qualifier against Andorra at Wembley. The experiment was abandoned after 45 minutes.

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“Why make the best right-back in the world a midfielder?” Klopp asked afterwards. “I don’t understand that. As if the right-back position is not as important as the others.”

How times have changed.

Liverpool’s ongoing resurgence, which started in April after a poor first half to last season, was sparked by the decision to give Alexander-Arnold the hybrid role where he moves into the holding midfield position when Klopp’s side are in possession.

Designed to maximise the 25-year-old’s skill set and give Liverpool an extra man in the centre of the pitch when they build attacks, it had a galvanising impact. Their only defeat in 24 Premier League matches since the tactical switch against Arsenal in the spring came in controversial circumstances away to Tottenham Hotspur in September.

Yet the evolution of Alexander-Arnold in what Klopp has described as “Liverpool 2.0” is continuing apace.

It was telling that when the manager sought control in the final half-hour of Sunday’s chaotic 4-3 home victory against Fulham, he brought on Joe Gomez to play right-back and put his faith in Alexander-Arnold to perform solely as a No 6.

No longer did Liverpool’s vice-captain have to concern himself with darting back to perform his defensive duties when possession was lost. He could focus fully on pulling the strings centrally and driving Liverpool forward with his range of passing.

It meant spending more time in areas where he could hurt Fulham — culminating in that dramatic late winner in front of the Kop, which meant he has scored in back-to-back Premier League matches for the first time in his career.

Alexander-Arnold’s touch map from the game underlines how little of it he played as a right-back.

Klopp had experimented with something similar when he brought Alexander-Arnold off the bench in last month’s Carabao Cup win against Bournemouth. On that occasion, he provided the pass for Darwin Nunez to settle the tie nine minutes after his introduction.

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What we’re increasingly seeing is Alexander-Arnold emerge as a bona fide option for Liverpool as an out-and-out midfielder. It’s where he wants to play, and it’s clearly where he can exert the greatest influence on matches for his boyhood club. It’s also where he’s been playing recently for his country and where he knows he stands the best chance of securing a spot in the team at next summer’s European Championship in Germany, alongside Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice.

There’s been a lot of talk about the No 6 position being an area of Klopp’s squad that needs to be strengthened. However, buying an established right-back should arguably be a bigger priority, whether that’s next month or next summer.

They need to find Alexander-Arnold’s successor/replacement there.

Gomez is a solid deputy when pressed into duty out wide, but he doesn’t offer much going forward and is considerably more comfortable and capable when deployed at centre-back.

There are high hopes for young Conor Bradley, who made his first Liverpool appearance since January last year when he came on in Thursday’s Europa League win over LASK. The 20-year-old Northern Ireland international had an impressive loan spell at Bolton Wanderers in League One last season before a stress fracture in his back derailed his progress during the summer. Now fit and with a new contract under his belt, it will be interesting to see whether Bradley can kick on and secure himself more opportunities.

Then there’s Calvin Ramsay, who has been hampered by injuries since he was bought from Aberdeen in Scotland’s Premiership in 2022. The Scotsman, also 20, only made the first start, and second appearance, of a season-long loan to Championship side Preston North End at the weekend.

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Trent Alexander-Arnold is the symbol of a rebooted and revitalised Liverpool

Until the options on that right side are more convincing than a transplanted centre-back and two kids, it’s likely to be a gradual process before Alexander-Arnold is a permanent fixture in midfield. But that transition is underway and it makes sense on many levels.

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For a start, Liverpool’s style under Klopp has changed. No longer are they heavily reliant on their full-backs providing the creativity from wide areas.

According to Opta, the number of open-play crosses they are making in the Premier League has dropped season by season from a high of 17.66 per match in the 2019-20 title win to 10.71 during this one. Over the same period, Alexander-Arnold’s crossing from open play has dipped from 6.74 per 90 minutes to 2.34.

With their rebuilt midfield offering more creativity, Liverpool are playing through the central areas of the pitch to a much greater degree.

Alexander-Arnold’s expected assists per 90 have gone down from 0.25 last season, and 0.29 in 2021-22, to 0.16 in this one. That can be explained by his involvement earlier in moves, rather than being the one playing the final pass.

You only have to look at his body language and the confidence he’s displaying to see how he loves the responsibility that comes with operating in the centre.

“What I’m best at is being someone who plays in the middle, someone who controls the game, controls the tempo, creates, breaks lines, progresses the ball up the pitch,” he said recently. “You probably get more out of me in the middle where I can show off that skill set as much as possible.”

Again, it’s a work in progress, with Alexander-Arnold admitting he still needs to fully learn the defensive side of playing as a genuine holding midfielder. It’s different operating there when your team don’t dominate possession and positioning is so key to providing protection and halting counter-attacks.

But he’s young and intelligent enough to adjust. It’s where he played a lot of his academy football and recently, he’s been studying footage of Spain’s Sergio Busquets and Italy’s Andrea Pirlo in their midfield primes.

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Klopp was right to be sceptical two years ago when, out of the blue, Southgate played Alexander-Arnold in midfield. Back then it made little sense, given where he was at.

But now, the No 6 role fits perfectly. His development has led him to this point and it’s where his future lies.

(Top photo: Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)

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