Recently sacked MK dons manager Karl Robinson has taken the credit for Liverpool ace Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Our former youth coach says he first saw the teenager 12-years ago when he was just six-years-old and knew straight away that he’d seen something special.
SEE MORE:
Unbelievable video of Firmino’s trap-setting, back-tracking & cleverness released
The Scouser recently made his full first-team debut against Spurs in the EFL Cup, after wowing in the Under-23s so far this term.
“I signed Trent,” Robinson told the 5Times podcast, cited in the Echo.
“I was watching the game on Tuesday night and I got all emotional.
“He had a choice between Liverpool and Everton, and we literally kidnapped him!
“We wouldn’t let him anywhere because he was so good. He was a striker as a kid.
“He was the best by a long way. We did everything we possibly could to sign him.
“Cameron Brannagan was a bit older than him. Jordan Rossiter and Connor Randall were also part of that batch of players we signed at six, seven and eight.
“I’m watching these kids now and thinking ‘remember the battle we had trying to sign him’.
“Back then you could play for Liverpool on a Monday, Man United on a Tuesday, Everton on a Wednesday, Man City on a Thursday and for Bolton or Blackburn on a Friday.
“We had to do so much to get these kids to the Academy.
“He was brilliant. He was bubbly, fearless, the best player at that age,” Robinson continued.
“Trent’s mum is an amazing woman who took him everywhere.
“I’ll tell you who he reminded me of as a kid was Jesse Lingard who we had at Liverpool and then lost to Man United.
“It shocked the life out of me that Trent is a right-back. Maybe it’s because he has the physical attributes to play out wide and can cope with the demands of the game there.”
Robinson makes an interesting point about Alexander-Arnold’s position, as just a few years back he was likened to Steven Gerrard because he was playing as a box-to-box midfielder.
He has the attributes and technical ability to perform in classically more pivotal positions, but in this day and age, the fullbacks are about as important as anyone on the pitch. They provide width and see more of the ball than anyone else, as James Milner is finding out at left-back this campaign.
We’ve drawn Leeds United in the next round of the EFL Cup and hope to see Alexander-Arnold once again. His potential is enormous.