Only two Liverpool players have been selected as part of Gareth Southgate’s 23-man World Cup squad.
And one of them is 19-year-old Trent Alexander-Arnold, who’ll travel alongside his club captain Jordan Henderson.
Adam Lallana is on standby, which is perhaps no surprise considering he’s essentially missed the entire season injured, while Nathaniel Clyne and Daniel Sturridge didn’t get the nod for similar reasons. James Milner would maybe have been called up if he wasn’t retired, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was a surefire starter had he not ruptured his knee ligaments in the Champions League.
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Everyone at Liverpool though is remarkably happy for Trent – and listening to Jurgen Klopp explain how the fullback found out reminds us how young he really is.
“It is nice, a nice story,” Klopp told liverpoolfc.com.
“Gareth Southgate gave me a call this morning and told me that I am allowed to tell him, but then I had some press work to do and didn’t have time.
“So, in the bus to the plane, I saw Trent for the first time. I thought maybe he knew already and someone else had called him. I had the honour of telling him and it was nice to see the reaction in his eyes. It’s fantastic, it’s well deserved, what a season. What a season! Can you be too young? No. You can be not good enough – but he is good enough.”
Before his 50th senior appearance, Trent will have played in a Champions League Final against Cristiano Ronaldo and a World Cup for England.
Not bad for a young lad who last summer was just happy to be training with the first-team squad!
Before he worries about England though, Alexander-Arnold has an enormous game on his hands against Real Madrid.
The world will be watching and we just hope he can channel the kind of performance he put in against Manchester City, when he pocketed Leroy Sane over two legs.