Gareth Southgate's Trent Alexander-Arnold ruling gives Arne Slot a headache from day one

Arne Slot is lucky to inherit a Liverpool side packed full of talent, none more prodigious than Trent Alexander-Arnold. Taking over with the club in a position of relative strength is a welcome novelty for any coach, albeit one that in this case piles more expectations onto the former Feyenoord boss.

And while the mere memory of what Jurgen Klopp achieved is enough to crank up the pressure, England manager Gareth Southgate could also add to Slot's headache over the next few weeks. The way he is set to deploy Alexander-Arnold at the Euros will throw the defender's Liverpool role into sharp relief.

Over the years, it's Southgate who has had to face the most scrutiny when it comes to Alexander-Arnold, constantly having to explain his reluctance to play the right-back amid his imperious Liverpool form. But now, the England manager has seemingly found a space for the Anfield star in midfield.

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The clues have been there for some time. The biggest hint came when England released its provisional squad list, and Alexander-Arnold was conspicuously listed among the midfielders.

He has since proceeded to feature there in friendlies, donning the number eight shirt against Bosnia and Herzegovina before coming on in the middle against Iceland. And now the Daily Mail reports that Southgate is currently leaning towards handing Alexander-Arnold a starting role in midfield at the tournament alongside Declan Rice, with England's opener against Serbia coming up on Sunday.

Inevitably, if Alexander-Arnold does indeed get the nod, he will show to the world what Liverpool has known for a while. Already, England's social account has waxed lyrical over the kind of pass he produces every week at club level.

But with his status as one of the very best passers in the world on show, there will be clamor for Slot to make the move into midfield permanent. Anything other than a dismal Euros campaign for England will ensure that debate dominates from day one of Liverpool's pre-season.

Unfortunately for Slot, it's not an easy decision to make. For most of his reign, Klopp was firmly of the view that it made no sense to move 'the best right-back in the world', and it would take a brave coach to entirely disregard the assessment of one of this generation's foremost managers.

But even Klopp had begun to experiment with a hybrid role for Alexander-Arnold. The crux of the issue is ultimately how to get the absolute maximum out of a truly generational talent, and Southgate's apparently definitive ruling ahead of the Euros will ensure there are two very distinct camps.

Even if Slot does decide to follow Southgate, there's a big question over where Alexander-Arnold fits into the midfield. Is he the long-awaited solution at the base of the engine room? Is he more effective further forward? And crucially, who drops out?

Dominik Szoboszlai looks most vulnerable if Liverpool is to sacrifice a number eight, having spent the latter stages of last season on the bench anyway. But he's a hugely exciting talent too, as are the likes of Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones and of course Alexis Mac Allister; as a right-back, Alexander-Arnold is at least only blocking the pathway of Conor Bradley, although he too is banging on the door for more minutes.

Naturally, there are worse headaches for Slot to have. Ultimately, it all comes back to the quality of the Liverpool team he has inherited. But if he was hoping to make a quiet Alexander-Arnold decision without the glare of constant public scrutiny, Southgate's decision has completely ruined the plan.