‘There is a pathway but they are competing against themselves to get to Melwood and get that debut… But Trent? Trent’s going to be a beauty.’ Steven Gerrard; April 25, 2017
Liverpool’s former captain would recoil if it was suggested he played a role in the development of Trent Alexander-Arnold, but he knows talent when he sees it.
On the day Steven Gerrard was appointed Under 18 head coach at the club, the declaration he made about an emerging right back was emphatic.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has been hailed for his 'moment of genius' against Barcelona
The right back's quick thinking allowed Divock Origi to score Liverpool's winning goal
Alexander-Arnold was not unknown then. He had made starts in the Premier League and Carabao Cup and Gerrard even made a point of name-checking him in his 2015 autobiography.
Expectation can kill fledgling careers, particularly for boys from Liverpool who dream of playing for the club, and big, bold words are not necessarily helpful, but there was something about the way Gerrard spoke that made you realise the trajectory for this young man would be different.
Two years on and look at him now. Alexander-Arnold does not turn 21 until October, but by then he will have played in two Champions League finals, represented England at a World Cup and been selected for the PFA team of the year. Gerrard is no longer alone in calling him a ‘beauty’.
His performance against Barcelona on Tuesday, a night Anfield will never forget, was everything everyone who has watched his career develop hoped it would be.
Liverpool are a club who need a local identity and the responsibility of representing this team sits easily. Away from football, he is a patron of the local charity An Hour for Others and regularly devotes his time to them; last Christmas Day he helped serve dinner to 60 families in difficult circumstances and bought presents for under-privileged children.
Steven Gerrard saw great potential in him during his time as part of Liverpool's youth set-up
Given that he grew up in West Derby, the district that contains Liverpool’s Melwood training base, Alexander-Arnold has long known the gravitas attached to being a player for the club and what is needed to succeed on and off the pitch.
‘He is going to get better,’ Gerrard told Sportsmail last summer. ‘The (Liverpool academy) staff have done a terrific job with him but I think Jurgen has been
