Andy Robertson is on his way to see his new mural near Anfield. It is a week of celebration of the man signed from relegated Hull who went on to become perhaps Liverpool’s greatest left-back. It isn’t Robertson’s way to seek out the spotlight, and he is happy to take second billing at his own farewell. But there has been an outpouring of appreciation nonetheless; from fans and teammates past and present alike.
The previous evening, he had opened a going-away present, courtesy of a man now in Madrid. “Last night's emotional part,” Robertson said. “Trent [Alexander-Arnold] got me a gift which nearly tipped me over the edge.” It was a picture of the pair, celebrating the 2019 Champions League triumph.
They were flying full-backs and brothers in arms, spurring each other on with their attacking exploits. Robertson broke the Premier League record for assists by a defender. He then lost it to Alexander-Arnold. “We both took each other to levels we didn’t [expect],” smiled Robertson. “Because we both have a competitive nature, we both wanted to better each other but we also... it’s not, ‘I was gutted when he did something special’. It’s more like, ‘if he has put an unbelievable ball in and got an assist, I want to do that now’. Me and him just went on the best journey ever.”
Andy Robertson (left) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (right) were brothers in arms at Liverpool (AFP/Getty)
There is only one stop left on that journey; Anfield on Sunday, against Brentford. It is Mohamed Salah’s goodbye, too. “I'm glad that one of our Egyptian friends might take a bit more of the limelight and I'm more than happy about that,” said Robertson. “I can just sneak underneath that.”
But it was typical of the Scot, the most selfless of footballers, that he did not just think of Salah. It will be a first return to Anfield for one who never got his own sentimental send-off. “I really hope Hendo gets a pretty special ovation on Sunday,” said Robertson. “What he did for this football club, how he led us to win those trophies, Hendo was instrumental in that.”
Jordan Henderson was one of a select few, outside of his family, that Robertson talked to before announcing his own Anfield exit. James Milner was another. Now he contemplates life away from Liverpool, a path taken by some of his closest footballing friends, in Henderson, Milner, Alexander-Arnold, Adam Lallana and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
“This is one of the biggest clubs in the world,” he added. “This club is unique. For me, when you step away, it is always going to be difficult. You will always miss it. But it is also about finding happiness elsewhere, which a lot of people have shown can be done. I was on FaceTime with Ox the other day. He’s just won the league with Celtic. He’s absolutely buzzing.”
Robertson (left) hopes former teammate Jordan Henderson (right) gets a good reception at Anfield (PA)
Robertson will share his Anfield farewell with Mohamed Salah (Reuters)
It is typical of Robertson’s generosity of spirit that, unprompted, he refers to Oxlade-Chamberlain as Liverpool’s best player until he suffered a cruciate ligament injury in the 2018 Champions League semi-final. Typical, too, that despite being demoted to second choice this season after Milos Kerkez’s arrival, he goes with no complaints.
“I leave with no regrets, no bitterness,” he said. “There was obviously no contract offer and it was all discussed. Me and Richard [Hughes, the director of football] have had discussions, me and Mike Gordon [president of owners Fenway Sports Group] have even had talks.”
Which was probably not the most nervous Robertson has been before a conversation at Liverpool. He recalls, a few months after his arrival, going to see Jurgen Klopp about the thorny issue of him not playing. “I was s***ing myself,” he recalled. His debut had been an auspicious affair, Robertson excelling. “Even when I go back to my first game against Crystal Palace, to have your song sung in the first game, I was thinking: ‘Are they singing about another player?’ I think there’s only two players who have had that now – me and Freddie Woodman,” he said. “Jurgen then put me into a cupboard for four months.”
Unleashed from the cupboard, Robertson became the all-action left-back. Jose Mourinho said he was tired just watching him. Manchester City could testify, too, to his energy; his famous one-man press against Pep Guardiola’s team in January 2018, closing down five opponents, showed him he was good enough and left him with one gripe.
“I still don't think it's a foul,” he said of his challenge on Nicolas Otamendi. “Everyone still talks about it because I think that was the moment people could see I could potentially be the left-back for years to come. I think fans left that stadium thinking 'we could have a proper left-back here'. I believe that was the game I finally belonged in a Liverpool jersey.”
He has worn the shirt 377 times, winning nine trophies. One memory stands out above all others. “The [2019] Champions League final sticks out in terms of that whole day, that night and then the parade the next day, getting to experience that for the first time, doing it with your best mates,” he said. “That was the best 24 or 28 hours of my life – apart from my kids and my marriage, I need to put that on record. In terms of football, that was unbelievable.”
It was the culmination of a rise, both individually and collectively. “When we started out the journey Mo Salah didn’t sign as the best player in the world or the best winger in the world,” Robertson recalled. “Virgil van Dijk had the potential to be but wasn't the best centre-back in the world, Allison wasn't the best goalkeeper in the world, Trent wasn't the best right-back in the world. We were all just on this journey from the bottom to the very top altogether and climbing that mountain was the best feeling ever.”
Liverpool beat Tottenham that day to become kings of Europe (PA)
Modesty prevented him from saying he became arguably the best left-back in the world. “I am more than happy for you to write about it,” he grinned. “For me to be in that conversation at that time, for me I couldn’t believe it but I knew what I was doing was on a really good level.”
At his peak, from 2018 to 2022, there were few better. He became part of Liverpool’s first league champions in three decades. Robertson wishes they had been able to celebrate it properly at Anfield; Covid meant otherwise, though he and Alexander-Arnold could at least enjoy last season’s Premier League.
By then, most of his core group were gone; Henderson, Milner, Lallana, Oxlade-Chamberlain. Another was then lost in tragic circumstances. Robertson was particularly close to Diogo Jota. The Portuguese’s death had a huge impact.
“We can’t hide away from it, and it is not an excuse, but what we went through in the summer no team will ever go through,” he said. “No member of staff will go through. I hope they never go through it because the devastation we went through … football didn’t matter.
“We didn’t care about football for weeks. None of us wanted to train. That was the reality. You were getting treatment off physios and physios didn’t want to treat you. Do you know what I mean? That is the reality of it. As footballers we then of course have a duty, we have to move on, we have to keep going and we managed that.”
Robertson has gone on. This summer, he will captain Scotland in their first World Cup in 28 years. But there is only one more game for Liverpool. “You can have a huge sense of pride as to what you have achieved,” he said. “I look back on my nine years and I know I have given absolutely everything.”
