Trent Alexander-Arnold on the Importance of Jürgen Klopp and Wanting More

It can be easy to forget, sometimes, that Trent Alexander-Arnold only just turned 21. He’s already made 97 first team appearances. He’s started two Champions League finals—and won one of them. There are few more established fullbacks anywhere in world football.

And he’s only just turned 21. Much of the credit for that, he says, is down to Jürgen Klopp and the rest of the Liverpool coaching staff, with the German manager making an instant impression on Alexander-Arnold when he took over the club back in October of 2015.

“Within his first few weeks, he was down at the Academy watching the young lads,” Alexander-Arnold told the club’s official website. “That gave us a bit more faith and gave a statement to the club that he is going to use young players and give us them chances.

”He’s shown over the four-year period that he has given them young players the chances and given opportunities—and obviously I’m one of those youngsters that have been given them. He’s put a lot of trust and faith in me personally and I’ve tried to repay him.”

As for what comes next for him as a player, given how well things have gone for him so far—better than even Alexander-Arnold says he ever dreamed they would when he was rising through the ranks at the academy—it’s hard to put any limit on just what he might achieve.

What he does know, though, is that he wants there to be more. More games to play, more improvements to make, and more silverware to win. And given how both he and the rest of this Liverpool squad have started the 2019-20 season, more seems eminently possible.

“The last few years have been a whirlwind,” he added. “To be able to sit back and think about how far I’ve come is massive. I never expected things to go so well, but I’ve been blessed enough and lucky enough to be given the opportunities at the right times.

“I’ve been able to take those opportunities and been given more. It’s the same as if you haven’t won a trophy. You want to do more, that determination and hunger to win silverware never dies out, no matter how many you win. You need to keep pushing to get better.”