Liverpool’s right-back crisis has reached a boiling point, and one player is feeling the heat more than anyone else: Calvin Ramsay. Since the controversial sale of Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid last summer for a mere £10m, the Reds have struggled to fill the void. They invested £29m in Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen and handed Conor Bradley a new contract, but neither move has provided the stability they desperately need.
But here's where it gets controversial: Frimpong, despite his talent, has been plagued by injuries—three significant absences this season alone—and seems more suited to an attacking role. Bradley, just 22, is out for the season with a complex knee injury suffered in January. This has forced manager Arne Slot into a series of improvisations, with Joe Gomez and Dominik Szoboszlai both stepping in at right-back, despite their natural positions being elsewhere. Even Wataru Endo, a midfielder, was thrust into the role, only to suffer a horrifying injury during a recent 1-0 victory.
And this is the part most people miss: Amidst all this chaos, Calvin Ramsay, the only fit right-back specialist, has been left on the bench since early December. His only appearance this season was in the disastrous EFL Cup loss to Crystal Palace in October. Slot has made it clear that Ramsay isn’t in his plans, even stating, ‘I’ve chosen other players until now and that’s also what I’m going to do tomorrow.’ This effectively seals Ramsay’s fate as a Liverpool outcast, with players like Gomez, Szoboszlai, and even Curtis Jones preferred ahead of him.
Is Slot making the right call, or is Ramsay being unfairly overlooked? The 22-year-old’s contract runs until 2027, but he’s become a forgotten man at Anfield. With game time scarce, it’s hard not to wonder if his best move would be to seek opportunities elsewhere at the end of the season. While he might get a few minutes in this weekend’s FA Cup clash against Brighton, it’s unlikely to change his long-term prospects under Slot.
What do you think? Is Ramsay’s lack of playing time justified, or is Liverpool missing a trick by sidelining him? Let us know in the comments below!
