The Liverpool full-back is currently being reinvented in a new hybrid midfield role by Jurgen Klopp, with encouraging results

Not sure if you’ve heard, but Trent Alexander-Arnold has been playing in a bit of a new position recently. Having established himself as one of the best and most successful right-backs in the game, the Liverpool star is undergoing something of a reinvention, with Jurgen Klopp beginning to deploy him in a hybrid full-back/central midfield role.

It’s going quite well, too, with Alexander-Arnold’s skill and passing range allowing him to flourish centrally, while simultaneously helping mask some of his defensive shortcomings. Never was that more evident than in his side’s 6-1 win at Leeds last week, where the 24-year-old delivered a performance Kevin De Bruyne or Joshua Kimmich would have been proud of.

Alexander-Arnold, in fairness, started out as a midfielder in Liverpool’s academy, switching to full-back only when he reached Under-16 level, and he is clearly relishing the chance to go back to his roots.

But he’s far from the first player to go through a mid-career position-change. GOAL takes a look at a few more that he will (mostly) be looking to replicate…

GettyCristiano Ronaldo

Where else could we start than with one of the greatest ever to do it?

We all know Ronaldo as the most prolific goalscorer of this or indeed any era, a ruthless, single-minded finisher, for whom no game was complete without his name on the scoresheet.

But in his early career at Sporting CP and Manchester United, we saw a very different player. Ronaldo emerged as a fleet-footed, stepover-obsessed winger who would stay wide and who could dazzle and infuriate in equal measure. "A show pony," according to plenty who witnessed his opening months in the Premier League.

It was not until his fourth season at United – 2006-07 – that we started to see a shift. Ronaldo scored 23 goals that year, and never looked back. By the time he reached Real Madrid in 2009, he was ready to establish himself as one of the most complete and consistent No.9s of all-time.

AdvertisementGettyGareth Bale

One of the greatest British exports ever, Bale became one of the world’s best players during his time at Real Madrid, winning five Champions League crowns and scoring, in 2018, perhaps the greatest European Cup final goal of all time.

He did all that as a devastating, free-roaming wide attacker, but it was at left-back where he came through the ranks at Southampton, and it wasn’t until he was moved further forward by Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp, after a difficult start to life at White Hart Lane, that we began to see the real Bale.

The 2010-11 season, in particular, was a breakthrough, including hat-trick against Inter at San Siro. From there, Bale never looked back.

Thierry Henry

You’ll be familiar with the Henry story by now, right? Signed as a talented-but-inconsistent left-winger by Arsenal in 1999, the Frenchman was moulded by Arsene Wenger into one of the Premier League’s greatest ever strikers, becoming the Gunners’ all-time record goalscorer in the process.

Henry still, in fairness, did much of his damage as a centre-forward by drifting left, and he would subsequently return to the left wing during his time at Barcelona.

But that shift of position, and of mentality, at Arsenal remains one of the most successful in English football history.

GettyPhilipp Lahm

One of the great underrated players of the modern era, Lahm won just about everything there was to win with club and country, including the World Cup, the Champions League and eight Bundesliga titles.

He did so mainly as a full-back, operating either on the right or the left, but he also had a spell under Pep Guardiola playing as a controlling central midfielder, a role he said he enjoyed immensely as Bayern won a league and cup double.

That summer, Lahm captained Germany to World Cup glory in Brazil, playing as both a full-back and midfielder during the tournament. A supreme footballer.