Liverpool have the NEXT Xabi Alonso

In January Richard Hughes was faced with a difficult dilemma.

Last summer he had agreed a deal to send Stefan Bajcetic on loan to Red Bull Salzburg. Only fast forward six months and Bajcetic was now struggling for minutes with the Austrian side.

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To make matters worse, Salzburg's manager and former Liverpool assistant boss, Pep Lijnders had been sacked.

The man who brought Bajcetic to Salzburg was now gone. Hughes had to step in and act and what did he do?

He pulled off a genius deal in order to save Bajcetic's career.

He recalled the Spaniard from his loan spell in Salzburg and organised for him to go out on loan to Las Palmas in La Liga instead.

In the process, Bajcetic's career has been rejuvenated and he's now showing Liverpool why he can be the club's next Xabi Alonso.

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Think about the last great Spanish midfielder to have left a lasting legacy at Anfield and you probably have to go back to Alonso. Sure, Thiago was great - there's no doubt he's world-class.

But Thiago's presence at Liverpool was so fleeting - he spent more time in the treatment room.

So, really it's not since Alonso that Liverpool have had a Spanish midfielder who could really make a difference in the starting line-up.

Now though in Bajcetic, at Las Palmas we are starting to see signs that he could follow in the Alonso's footsteps.

Bajcetic has showed his class against the likes of Atletico and Real Madrid and Barcelona.

He's been stepping up for the Spanish side fighting relegation and in the process also showing a lot of qualities that could be useful to Arne Slot's first team.

Among those is his ability to read the game. Something that Alonso was renowned for and is now present in Bajcetic as well.

He averages the most interceptions (7 per 90) among midfielders in La Liga this season as per Wyscout.

Defensively, he's showcased a lot of qualities. He's been tasked with a lot of defensive work because of the team that he plays for and he's stepped up.

He also averages the most successful defensive actions (13.57 per 90).

But he's not just a defensive player. Like Alonso, he likes to manipulate the ball and dictate the game from midfield. He can switch the play averaging 6.25 long pases per 90 and he will always look forward to make passes averaging 12.7 forward passes per 90.

That ability to make line breaking passes is going to be essential for Liverpool in the absence of Alexander-Arnold.

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So, they might be losing a generational right-back but they can take solace from the fact that at least in Bajcetic there will be an Alonso esque Spanish midfielder linking up with Slot's first team in pre-season again after returning from his loan spell.