CIES’ latest study has attempted to rank the most impactful players on the planet under the age of 25, and there have been some interesting findings.
Using a role-based approach, The Football Observatory attempted to rank young players based on their importance to their teams, taking into account things like minutes played, on-pitch performance and all-around team performance.
The study split players into 15 different technical profiles, and Trent Alexander-Arnold scored very highly as an ‘infiltrator creator’.
Indeed, the Liverpool star earned an impact score of 98.4 out of 100, and interestingly, he ranked higher than some truly brilliant players in this role.
An ‘infiltrator creator’ is a player who ranks highly in terms of dribbles, assists and chances created, so it is intriguing that Alexander-Arnold ranks so highly here. After all, he is a right-back.
The likes of Moussa Diaby, Dejan Kulusevski and Phil Foden – three attacking players, don’t rank as highly as Alexander-Arnold in this role, and neither does Jude Bellingham.
Bellingham also profiles as an ‘infiltrator creator’, but he scores 7.3 percentage points lower then Alexander-Arnold.
Of course, Liverpool have been strongly linked with Bellingham, but according to this study, they already have a player who can perform the midfielder’s role better than the England international.
There has been loads of discussion about Alexander-Arnold eventually moving into a midfield role, and the fact that the stats back up that he belongs in this sort of profile alongside the likes of Bellingham only strengthens that argument.
Liverpool could save millions if they simply shifted Alexander-Arnold into the middle of the park and spent more wisely on a new right-back rather than splashing out on Bellingham, but, of course, finding a full-back of suitable quality is easier said than done.
One thing is for sure, if Liverpool unite Bellingham and Alexander-Arnold in the same team, they will be frightening as a creative force.
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