Left-back tipped to replace Andy Robertson opens up on failed medical

Liverpool will soon require a new left-back with Andy Robertson about to turn 31 and beginning to show signs of wear and tear.

The Reds have probably been linked with more left-backs this season than players in any other position.

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Rayan Ait-Nouri and Milos Kerkez are among the Premier League options discussed for an Anfield move with others such as Alvaro Carreras and Miguel Gutierrez have been linked from further afield.

But one candidate might well be head and shoulders above the others right now.

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Antonee Robinson is no stranger to Merseyside having played for Everton’s youth and academy sides. The United States international has made his name as one of the top flight’s best left-backs over the past few seasons with Fulham.

The 27-year-old impressed on his visit to Anfield in December and has even won the endorsement of Mohamed Salah. He has got an incredible 10 assists in the Premier League this season and it’s no surprise he’s been associated with a move to Liverpool.

Under contract with Fulham until 2028, Robinson joined the London club back in summer 2020 from Wigan Athletic. However, while he was still at the Latics, he was identified for a surprise move to AC Milan.

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That was in January 2020 but a dream move to San Siro broke down due to the medical uncovering a heart issue. On a recent episode of Fozcast - The Ben Foster Podcast, Robinson revealed the cause of his move to Milan being called off.

Robinson's failed Milan medical

“There was a spell, I think every single time we were on TV, the interviewer was like: 'Yeah, failed a medical at Milan’,” he told the former England goalkeeper.

“I just had like an abnormality in my heart basically. I was having these things called ectopic heartbeats, which are inefficient heartbeats, and I was having too many of them, too often.

“The cardiologist I had at the time, he said anywhere from three to five percent or something like that was normal, and I was 15%.

“So something that might not show up on an ECG if you do your medical at a team in England, but then you go over to Italy, they're really stringent on heart stuff.

“They had a couple players in the league die from cardiac arrest or whatever, so they're very strict on heart.

Robinson hasn't looked back since

“I've had a friend who played for the US with me, had a similar thing with a medical over there.

“He called me up, it was literally the exact same thing as me, which you know, it was nice for me to be able to tell him: 'You'll be fine, it's just timing, don't worry about it.'

“But it is scary thinking that if I didn't have that medical, I would have just carried on my lifestyle how it was, and I was approaching heart failure essentially."

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Robinson went on to have the issue addressed with an ablation procedure while at Wigan and hasn’t looked back since. Among the most consistent performers in the division, there are few better candidates to take over from Robbo at left-back when the time comes.

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