Trent Alexander-Arnold on new signings, midfield role and pre-season work
Trent Alexander-Arnold is excited at the prospect of linking up with new Liverpool midfielders Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai this season.
The No.66 returned to the AXA Training Centre on Tuesday for pre-season testing alongside 13 others from Jürgen Klopp's senior squad.
New signings Mac Allister and Szoboszlai were among those in the second phase of players back at Kirkby ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, meeting their new teammates for the first time.
Alexander-Arnold – who featured in a dual midfield and full-back role towards the end of the previous campaign – is thrilled to welcome the pair to the club.
"[They're] top players," he told Sky Sports. "I think it's exciting for the club and exciting for the team.
"It is always exciting when we sign new players to see how they come in and how they adapt and what they're like. I'm sure they already know, they can see from the outside we're a welcoming side and a welcoming team.
"It's a good dressing room. Come in, do your work and get results. That's all we ask of players; it's to buy into what we do and buy into the plan and be willing to work hard and sacrifice for the team.
"I'm sure the lads will do it and on top of that they're two technically excellent players who can receive the ball and play with the ball. For players like me who enjoy passing the ball, they're dream players ahead of me."
Discussing his hybrid midfield and defensive role, Alexander-Arnold added: "It's not my decision. I only play where I'm told to play, so all I can say is I enjoy playing football, I enjoy playing right-back, I enjoy playing in the middle of the pitch a lot.
"It's somewhere where I find joy and I'm enjoying the challenge of the two, so you know I would enjoy playing there in the next season, but it's not my decision where I play."
Liverpool's pre-season plans will see them play four games across trips to both Germany and Singapore, before a final friendly against SV Darmstadt 98 at Deepdale Stadium.
The new Premier League campaign will begin at Chelsea on August 13 for Klopp's charges, though Alexander-Arnold knows there is plenty of work to be done ahead of then.
On pre-season, he said: "They are definitely hard; I would say it depends how long they are. I would say some pre-seasons are longer than others.
"On a general level I do enjoy them, you know I enjoy being away with the team, travelling, staying in hotels and being in like a base camp together where you have to bond and get to know each other.
"You grow closer, and you are all putting in the work for the season ahead and that's exciting because no-one knows how it's going to end up, but you put in that work hoping for the best and making sure you're getting everything on board."