Andy Robertson explains why Trent Alexander-Arnold’s mindset ‘Isn’t great’ at Liverpool

Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has been at the center of rumors linking him to a summer move to Real Madrid, but for now, his focus remains on recovering from an ankle injury.

Andy Robertson has spoken out about his close friend's current state, revealing that Alexander-Arnold's mindset is not in a good place, but clarifying that it’s not due to the ongoing speculation about his potential move to Spain. The two full-backs share a strong bond, and Robertson admitted that it’s hard for him to ignore the continuous talk about his teammate’s future.

However, Robertson emphasized that Alexander-Arnold’s frustration is purely the result of his injury, which caused him to miss the Merseyside derby and could potentially keep him out of Liverpool's upcoming match against Fulham. Robertson explained: “Trent’s head is not great because he’s injured. He hates being injured, none of us like being injured, but it hurts Trent a little bit more.”

“That’s all he is focused on. It is impossible for me to say we have not seen all the noise and everyone commenting on it but, for us, our focus is for him to get back fit and healthy.

"Once he does that, what will happen, will happen. No one knows that yet. People can talk and speculate but for us we want Trent back very soon.”

In the absence of Alexander-Arnold and Conor Bradley, who has been out with a hamstring issue, Curtis Jones played at right-back in Liverpool’s Merseyside derby win. And Robertson was full of praise for the versatile Jones.

He said: “I thought Curtis was excellent. Curtis was excellent. He is such an intelligent footballer. We were joking the other day … he has played left wing, number ten, number six, number eight, striker, as a right-back. Hopefully, he can’t play left back!

“But it shows how intelligent he is. He took the game in his stride, was so comfortable on the ball and he defended really well too.”

Ahead of this weekend’s fixtures, Liverpool have a 12-point gap at the top of the Premier League and after the Champions League exit and the Carabao Cup final defeat, Robertson admits it was a relief to get back into the successful Premier League groove. He said: “It was good to be back to winning ways and we go again Sunday which will be a really tough game.

“You guys talk about the 12 points but we talk about the next three points. Every game becomes bigger for us. Every time we win three points, the gap becomes bigger for us.

“We have eight games left, every time we pick up three points, it brings us closer to where we want to be. But we are still a long way off that.”