Trent Alexander Arnold The Wingman (Video)

Written By Jacobs Dunga

Trent Alexander Arnold was born on October 7th 1998 in West Derby, Liverpool and attended St Matthew’s Catholic Primary School, before later enrolling at St. Mary’s, in Crosby. Arnold was spotted by the Liverpool academy coach Ian Barrigan while representing his school in an open trial organized by Liverpool. He was selected and offered a chance to join the academy by Liverpool with his parents giving their okay and Arnold began his story with the Reds aged six.

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Arnold grew through the ranks at Liverpool where he captained the U16 and U18 sides under the tutelage of now first team assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders. He was originally an outside midfielder before switching to the fullback role which has made him become one of the most talked about players in that position. The 23 year old first had a taste of first team football when he was elected for Liverpool’s final preseason game against Swindon Town in the 2016/2016 season.

Cafu once said about Arnold. “I think [he] is one of the best in the world, no doubt about it. I would say he has the same characteristics as I did. I think he has what it takes to become a Ballon D’Or winner.”

Arnold made his official debut at 18 against Tottenham Hotspur in the fourth round of the EFL Cup, a game Liverpool won 2-1. He has since gone on to break multiple records while helping Liverpool return to winning ways since over a decade.

The England international at just 23 has made over 200 appearances for the club and is already in his sixth season as a professional. Arnold in 2019 became the youngest player in history to start in back to back finals of the UEFA Champions League where Liverpool dismissed Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the final after having already play in the previous season’s final defeat to Real Madrid.

He would help Liverpool get past Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup and lead Liverpool to their first ever Club World Cup title. Arnold registered his first assist for the club in November 2016 during an EFL Cup match against Leeds United in a 2-0 win. At the end of his first season in the senior team, he as voted Liverpool’s best young player of the season after making just twelve appearances.

Gary Neville once said there’s nothing like the England international while Messi predicted him as the future.

Neville added: “I’ve not seen something like him since Cafu. He’s out of this world. The quality he produces is out of this world.”

Lionel Messi’s assessment of him him was straight n precise. “He is the future,” Messi said.

Arnold scored on his European debut for Liverpool against German side Hoffenheim via a direct free kick in 2017 thus becoming the third youngest player to score on his European debut for the club. Arnold holds the record for being the youngest player to start a Champions League final game for Liverpool after making the line up against Real Madrid in 2018.

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The Liverpool fullback holds the record for most assists in the Premier League by a defender in a single season with thirteen in the 2019/2020 season breaking the previous record of twelve set by none other than the man himself in the previous season. He’s however on course to break his own record again in the 2021/2022 season having assisted his team mates ten times already in just twenty games and with as much as fifteen rounds of matches still to play.

He holds the record for being the youngest player in Premier League history to register three assists in a single game which came against Watford on February 27th 2019.

Arnold’s instinctive corner kick in the 2018/2019 UCL semi final second leg against Barca found Origi in the box who jabbed a one time shot into the back of the net to put Liverpool ahead 4-0 after having lost the first leg 3-0 at the Camp Nou. Many plaudits flew in for that intelligence from a player as young as Arnold and at the end of that season he was named in the PFA team of the year and UCL team of the season respectively. Arnold is the first defender in the Premier League to reach double figure of assists in consecutive campaigns with 12 in 2018/2019 and 13 in 2019/2020 seasons respectively.

With over two hundred appearances, twelve goals and over fifty assists at just the age of 23 for Liverpool coupled with sixteen England caps, the world seems not ready for arguably the best right back of the modern game.

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Omolagba Oluwayemi

I’m Oluwayemi, a sports analyst, writer and a passionate football follower. I started writing while I was in High School although not sports related but I became a professional sports analyst and writer in the year 2019. My passion for football led me into talking sports. I love writing articles as well and I love reporting events the way they unfold without mincing words for the fear of anyone.

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