"I don’t care": Rio Ferdinand makes very bold statement about £160,000 Liverpool star

Rio Ferdinand has said that he thinks Trent Alexander-Arnold is the best passer in the world after his display against Benfica.

Liverpool beat the Portuguese team 3-1 and Trent showcased his world class passing brilliantly with some excellent through balls to Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz.

The latter assisted Sadio Mane after Alexander-Arnold picked him out with a delightful crossfield pass to make it 2-0 and Ferdinand lavished praise on the fullback.

He told BT Sport: "Trent is as good a passer as anyone on the planet right now, I don’t care.

"When I saw one of his passes yesterday, I was screaming. And it’s not usually passes that do that to me. It’s out of order the way he passes the ball. It’s not only the execution, it’s the vision."

Trent earns £160,000/week, according to reports, and his display at the Estádio da Luz justifies. The hope is that he can follow it up with a match-winning performance at the Etihad on Sunday when Manchester City host Liverpool in the Premier League.

Trent's passing accuracy was actually only 86% on Tuesday evening and he misplaced 9 passes but the reason he's rated so highly is that he can pull off the most difficult passes with ease quite regularly.

His role against City is vital as is his ability to switch the ball to either Andy Robertson or whoever Klopp chooses to play on the left flank.

What will be interesting is how long Alexander-Arnold be will able to maintain his intensity after missing the international break and sitting out against Watford.

His match fitness will be lower than the rest of the players so if Liverpool do have a lead to protect and Trent is tiring, given how impressive Joe Gomez was against the Hornets, bringing him onto manage the game could certainly be an option to consider.