“It’s a privilege” to have a player like Trent Alexander-Arnold, reveals Arbeloa | OneFootball

Álvaro Arbeloa labelled Trent Alexander-Arnold as “a very intelligent guy” after the Englishman marked his first start in more than two months with an assist.

The 27-year-old needed just five minutes to tee up Gonzalo García for the first goal of Real Madrid’s 4-1 thrashing of Real Sociedad, which sent los Blancos above Barcelona in the LaLiga standings.

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Árbeloa piled on the praise for the ex-Liverpool man, noting that “from working with him and speaking with him, he seems like a very intelligent guy.

“He understands the game very well and quickly grasps what we want from him and where we can make the most of him.

“He’s not the typical full-back who stays wide all the time; he can play a lot inside in our system, where we want players to move and interchange positions. It’s a privilege to have a player like that, who can play inside and also stretch the play wide.”

Alexander-Arnold’s assist on Saturday came in the form of a pinpoint cross into the box, which was nudged on with the deftest of touches by García.

“We talked before the match about how having Gonzalo in the box meant that he could create crossing situations and opportunities from set pieces. With his deliveries, when we win the ball back, he launches our counterattacks very well too,” Arbeloa added.

But the full-back faces competition from Dani Carvajal, who is also returning from injury and made “the first step” towards becoming a regular starter again, according to the Real Madrid boss.

Arbeloa revealed that “neither [Carvajal nor Alexander-Arnold] is ready to play 90 minutes every three days, so we’ll need both throughout the season because they’re very different and can offer different things.

“My objective is to have them both at 100% and then be able to use them interchangeably,” he confirmed.