Trent Alexander-Arnold details his brothers’ selfless sacrifices that helped him become a Liverpool superstar – Liverpool Echo
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Trent Alexander-Arnold has opened up on the sacrifices his two brothers made to help him become a Liverpool superstar at the age of 20.
The right-back has established himself as one of the finest around during his two years in the Liverpool senior squad and became the first player under the age of 21 to start in successive Champions League finals when he helped Jurgen Klopp’s side to a 2-0 win over Tottenham in Madrid on June 1.
Alexander-Arnold’s rise has been a rapid one since he made his Premier League debut in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in January 2017 and he enters the new season as one of Liverpool’s key players after notching the most assists for a defender in a top-flight campaign with 13 last term.
(Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
For the West Derby-born youngster, starring in the Liverpool first team is something he dreamt about growing up with his two brothers Marcel and Tyler, and the 20-year-old has detailed how his siblings were happy to take a back seat to enable him to reach the pinnacle of football.
In another fascinating edition of the Players’ Tribune , Alexander-Arnold recalls: “It’s funny, my brothers and I were so competitive that whenever it would rain – which was all the time – we would be stuck inside doing nonsense, trying to play games.
“So one day my mum had probably had enough of it, and she had my dad teach us how to play chess. And it was brilliant, actually, because chess requires the same competitiveness and strategy as football.
“But the feeling you get when you know you’re about to finish off your brother, and there’s absolutely nothing he can do to get out of it? Ahhh, it’s incredible. The look on his face.
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“The most important thing, though, was that it was another thing we could do together. My brothers weren’t just my brothers, they were my best friends.
“As I got a bit older, and I moved up through the Liverpool Academy, Tyler and Marcel willingly sacrificed their own dreams for mine.
“I think maybe we all realised at a young age that being a professional footballer was more realistic for me. And my parents did, too. That’s a hard thing for a young lad to understand.
(Image: Harriet Lander/Copa/Getty Images)
“There were weekends when Mum couldn’t take my brothers to their matches because I had to be at the Academy at a certain time – and it was always them who made the sacrifice.
“To this day I’m so incredibly grateful to both of them.
“Every step I took, we took. Every cap I got, we got. Every experience I had, we had. That’s how it works where I come from.”
Alexander-Arnold is now represented by his brother Tyler, who worked with the club to help his brother pen a new, long-term contract at his boyhood team in January this year.
The young defender, who has made more appearances than Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard for Liverpool at the same age, is expected to start when the European champions entertain Norwich on Friday night.
