Photo by Ulrik Pedersen/NurPhoto via Getty Images

News

HomeNewsArsenalEnglish Premier League

Trent Alexander-Arnold says striker Arsenal signed for £8m is the smartest footballer he’s ever seen

Charles Jones

Sat 29 March 2025 8:15, UK

Trent Alexander-Arnold has played with some incredibly clever footballers during his time at Liverpool.

Indeed, Thiago Alcantꦅara is one of the smartest players in football history, while Roberto Firmino was nothing short of a genius when he was at Liverpool.

However, according to Alexander-Arnold, the smartest player in football history is actually a former Arsenal ace.

Indeed, speaking to Goal, Alexander-Arnold w𒉰as asked to name the smartest footballer he’s ever seen, and he named a former Arsenal man as his answer.

The right-back actually claimed that Dennis Bergkamp is the player from histor🌳y with t꧙he highest football IQ.

• READ MORE: Daniel Levy has made it his ‘personal mission’ to sign ‘cra🉐zy’ Premier League plaওyer for Tottenham

Dennis Bergkamp is the smartest player ever

Alexander-A🔯rnold named Bergkamp as the player with the highest football IQ.

Of course, the Dutch🦋man was an absolute legend of the Premier League era, lighting up English football with ♓his incredible ability at Arsenal.

Arsenal would sign Bergkamp for just £🍸8m back in 1997, and that ultimately proved to be one of the biggest bargains in Premier League history.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard something like this 🍃said abou♈t Bergkamp.

Indeed, Ally McCoist also hailed Bergkamp for his footballing brain recently, showcasing just how smart the 🍬striker was as a player.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s perfect player

Al🌳exander-Arnold di✱dn’t just pick out Bergkamp for praise.

Indeed, the full-back was as♍k🃏ed to build a perfect player made up of a number of attributes, and he made some interesting choices here.

Alexander-Arnold pi🐠cked a number of Liverpool figures when building his perfect player, while, of course, he also picked a Real Madrid legend – Zinedine Zid♋ane.

Alexander-Arnold is set to join Real Madrid this summer, and he could well follow in Zidane’s footsteps🌊 by becoming a legend at the Bernabeu.

The defender also picked Virgil van Dijk for his incredible strength, while he also chose Steven Gerrard for his passing a🧸bility, showing his strong affinity for Liverpool.

Alexander-Arnold has picked some incredible players he🍸re to make up his ultimate player, and if you put Bergkamp’s brain in any footballer, you’re going to have a top attacker on yourꦿ hands.