Arne Slot could hand surprise role to Liverpool defender

Arne Slot could hand a surprise role to Liverpool's forgotten defender.

The Dutchman doesn't really like to rotate his squad. Nor has he shown the same appreciation towards Liverpool's academy stars as his predecessor or even those who have worked at the club before him.

Jurgen Klopp was always keen to promote talent, even when Liverpool were at the top and very successful. During the 2020 Premier League title winning campaign he integrated Curtis Jones and handed Harvey Elliott his Premier League debut.

Slot's preference is to keep his squad tight. Last season, he refrained from playing even the likes of Federico Chiesa with the Italian very much restricted to peripheral role.

But this season, things seem to be changing a little bit. Slot's side are picking up more injuries and forcing his hand to involve more players in the squad.

It has given some of the club's fringe players an opportunity to impress and make a go at trying to establish themselves a spot in the first-team.

One of these has been Calvin Ramsay. The Scotsman has always been very highly rated ever since arriving at the club. But injuries have restricted his opportunities at Liverpool and elsewhere, when he has gone out on loan.

That is why when Ramsay was involved in the game against Crystal Palace, it was his first appearance in just under three years for the club.

He's been forgotten about over the last few years.

Nonetheless, he caught the eye in that game, and afterwards he was with the travelling squad for the game against Aston Villa, although he did not make the bench.

Ultimately, Ramsay has been seen training with the first-team since. He made an appearance in the training sessions leading up to the Real Madrid game and looks to have been involved all week.

In a report from the Daily Mail, the site claims that the most likely next destination for Ramsay is a loan move in the January window. They claim that one EFL manager has made frequent visits to watch him in action for the U21s.

However, they also claim that fans 'don't rule out' Ramsay playing more minutes for the first team with Slot potentially giving him a surprise role.

Given Jeremie Frimpong's injury, Liverpool don't have a back-up right-back behind Conor Bradley. It's fair to say the former cemented his role in the team after his performance against Real Madrid.

But Ramsay could be given a back-up role while Frimpong is out until December.

There will be a lot of games to be played for Liverpool and Slot will know he cannot rely on Bradley in all of them, especially with the Northern Irishman's injury record.

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