Trent Alexander-Arnold had no holiday plans for the summer, which for a 19-year-old professional footballer, surprises us!
So it’s lucky Liverpool’s prodigal right-back is going to the World Cup, we suppose!
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How Klopp broke Trent’s World Cup news to 19-year-old is brilliant…
The defender is currently with the rest of the Liverpool squad in Marbella – having a short break and fitness camp with the sole aim of peaking for the Champions League Final on May 26th.
And yesterday, he was alerted to the news that he’s part of Gareth Southgate’s 23-man England World Cup squad.
He’ll compete with Kieran Trippier for the right-back spot, as Southgate plans to use Kyle Walker in a three-man backline.
“I’m honoured, excited and feeling really proud,” he told Liverpoolfc.com in Spain.
“It was an unbelievable moment to find out I was going to go to the World Cup, especially at a young age. It’s probably capped off a really good season for me.
“I found out this morning, just before we came out to Marbella. The manager came and spoke to me just as we were getting on the plane.
“He asked me if I knew anything about the squad or anything yet. I said, ‘no’ and he said, ‘Have you got anything planned around the time of the World Cup?’ I was like, ‘No, no holidays or anything…’
“He said to me, ‘OK, good… You’re in the squad!’ It was a really proud moment. On England’s behalf, it was nice of them to let the manager tell me.”
We actually think the 3-4-3 Southgate uses for England will suit Trent perfectly.
He’s much better going forward than defensively, so with Walker behind him, he’ll have much more help when opponents have the ball.
For Liverpool though, he’s in the last line of defence – with Mo Salah not often tracking back to help him out!
So his biggest test of the summer will be in Kiev against Cristiano Ronaldo and co.