Liverpool line up the perfect move to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold

Liverpool believe they have identified the long-term solution to the right-back void left by Trent Alexander-Arnold’s departure: 17-year-old Benfica prodigy Daniel Banjaqui. Sporting director Richard Hughes has prioritised the position after a season of makeshift fixes, and the Portuguese teenager now sits at the top of a three-club shortlist that also includes Arsenal and Manchester United, according to TEAMtalk.

Alexander-Arnold’s exit to Real Madrid still reverberates at Anfield. The Scouser had dictated the rhythm of Jürgen Klopp’s, and now Arne Slot’s, side for the best part of a decade, and the club’s attempts to fill the vacuum have underlined his unique value. Jeremie Frimpong arrived but looks more comfortable as a winger; Conor Bradley impressed when fit yet another injury lay-off has again curtailed his campaign; Dominik Szoboszlai has even been shoe-horned into the role in recent weeks. The need for a reliable, elite right-back has become urgent.

Banjaqui, handed his senior debut by Jose Mourinho in November, caught Liverpool’s eye at the U17 World Cup where the club’s scouts were omnipresent. They have already mined the tournament for Mor Talla Ndiaye and Ifeanyi Ndukwe, and the Portuguese flyer is viewed as the crown jewel of that recruitment drive.

He is a classic modern full-back: lightning-quick, eager to overlap, and armed with a dangerous cross that yielded an assist in only his second Benfica appearance. For Portugal’s youth side he operated slightly deeper, pinging progressive passes and demonstrating the tactical intelligence to invert—precisely the dual profile Slot demands. Defensively he is relentless, winning 68% of his duels at the World Cup and, on debut in Liga NOS, topping all players for tackles (4) and duels won (11).

Comparisons have been drawn with Paris Saint-Germain’s Nuno Mendes, a long-term Liverpool target who slipped through the net when price tags soared. Banjaqui carries an €80m release clause, yet with Mourinho only beginning to ease him into first-team football, Liverpool anticipate negotiating a significantly lower fee for a player they project as a future world-class operator.

The race is on. Arsenal and Manchester United retain serious interest, but Anfield chiefs are confident that early groundwork and the promise of a clear pathway to the starting XI will tip the balance in their favour. If the deal crosses the line, Liverpool will believe they have finally found the heir to Alexander-Arnold’s throne.