Gareth Southgate, England’s manager, rates Trent Alexander-Arnold extremely highly – and rightly so.
The 20-year-old has just enjoyed a phenomenal season for Liverpool in which he won a Champions League – having been the most impressive right-back in the competition.
He was also the best right-back in the Premier League, too.
As a result, Southgate started Trent in England’s recent Nations League third-place play-off victory over Switzerland and would have been mightily impressed with the youngster’s Man of the Match performance.
But having seen Trent in training, Southgate wasn’t surprised…
“He was very good in terms of his use of the ball. His technique for his crossing is fantastic,” Southgate told the Star.
“There’s still a bit to do defensively on positioning and awareness.
“But he’s had some fantastic experiences already in a very short career. He’s heading in a really good trajectory.”
“He’s his own player. In training the other day he wondered to the other end of the training pitch with a bag of balls.
“He put one down, they had a wall up, so he whipped it round the wall into the top corner then just walked off.
“So we said ‘okay a bit of pressure training’. He’s got great belief in his delivery. It’s a great asset to have.”
We think next season, Trent will likely be ahead of Manchester City star Kyle Walker in the England pecking order at right-back – although in truth – we’re not too bothered!
If Trent sits on the bench for England, he’ll be fresher for Liverpool – although obviously we want our starlet to reach his international ambitions as well as his club ones.
He may have competed in back to back Champions League Finals, but Trent is by no means the finished product – which is what is so exciting about him.
Trent could improve defensively, but he could also maximise his sensational passing range to an even bigger extent.