Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has named one former Manchester City winger as the toughest opponent he ever faced who didn’t go on to have a notable playing career at the highest level.
As an 18-year-old playing with the Reds’ under-21s, the club’s current vice-captain admitted to being given the runaround by Brandon Barker, who was coming through the ranks with the Sky Blues at the time.
The 25-year-old Scouser was speaking to the We Are Liverpool podcast on LFC’s YouTube channel when he was asked to name a particularly tough opponent who ‘people won’t know about’.
Trent replied: “I would say Brandon Barker, played for [Manchester] City. I was 18. I was playing for the under-21s. First ever time at Anfield, got beat 3-0. He scored two and got an assist.
“I came off at 60 [minutes]. Still to this day, [he’s] the opponent that I think just destroyed me, man. I’ve never had it like that before.
“At that point I’m thinking ‘This kid’s gonna be the best player in the world’, because I’d never seen someone move so quickly and sharp and so effectively, so I’d say Brandon Barker.”
While Trent has gone on to play 300 times combined for Liverpool and England, winning some of the biggest prizes in club football (Transfermarkt), Barker – who turned 27 – is now a free agent.
After leaving Man City in 2019 (following a succession of loan moves), he was signed by Steven Gerrard for Rangers before playing for Oxford United, Reading and most recently Omonia Nicosia in Cyprus, who released him in August.
It’s fair to say that the Reds dynamo didn’t let that chastening experience hinder him, while the youngster who terrorised him that day didn’t go on to have the same success at senior level as the current LFC vice-captain.
You can view Trent’s comments on Barker below (from 36:05), via Liverpool FC on YouTube: