Reds Academy chief hails ‘incredibly unusual’ youngster

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Liverpool’s top man at the Academy, Alex Inglethorpe, says Trent Alexander-Arnold can be a role model for the rest of the young players coming through the system – but has warned that his isn’t a normal case.

Trent jumped straight from the Academy to the first-team almost overnight and has stayed there ever since, but that is not the usual pathway of progression.

The Academy director told LiverpoolFC.com: “Trent’s pathway is incredibly unusual. There are not many boys who will go straight from an Academy into a first team. Some can take the elevator, and some have to take the stairs.

“For the majority of boys, they’ve got to take the stairs. They’ve got to get to 150 games somewhere on loan or accumulate that experience before they are ready for the first team. Not everybody, but some of them.”

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Trent was a midfield player for the majority of his time at the Academy and may well move back into that position in the long-term, but has certainly taken his chance at right-back at first-team level.

He has also been capped at senior level by England and played at the World Cup in Russia last summer.

Inglethorpe added: “He’s an unbelievable person. He still craves feedback and I don’t think he sees himself as complete by any measure – he’s still obsessive about getting better.”

That kind of attitude is exactly what is required to make it at the very top – and shows why Trent has been able to make the very most of his chance.

He will be vital against Bayern Munich on Tuesday night, and will line-up alongside an inexperienced central defensive partnership which is likely to include Joel Matip and Fabinho.

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