New look, new role make Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold a happy man

SINGAPORE – When Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp approached Trent Alexander-Arnold midway through a training session at the National Stadium last Saturday, the player thought he was about to get a rollicking for giving the ball away.

But the German simply wanted to inform the 24-year-old that

he will take over as vice-captai

n from James Milner, who had left for Brighton & Hove Albion.

As Alexander-Arnold recounted that “moment to remember” at Tuesday’s press conference on the eve of the Reds’ friendly match against Bayern Munich, Klopp let out his iconic cackle.

The England international said: “It was a lovely surprise to me. I thought we will have a conversation around that sort of thing at some point, but not in that moment. So it was special.”

That moment at Kallang was caught on camera and shared on Liverpool’s official website and social media channels on Monday, when Dutch centre-back Virgil van Dijk was also confirmed as the Reds’ new captain.

Alexander-Arnold’s pride in his new role was clear to see. The Liverpool academy graduate, who joined in 2004 and captained the Reds across the youth levels, could not stop beaming during the press conference.

Asked if he had time to reflect on his new status, he said: “I’ve put in a lot of hard work... to reach these kind of milestones. I’m proud of myself and it’s made me smile.”

Explaining why he appointed Alexander-Arnold as vice-captain, Klopp said: “It’s clear in a club like this, you need a specific DNA and if not him, who?”

Alexander-Arnold added that he has never been shy about saying what his ambitions are, which has “always been to captain this club and this is a stepping stone to that”.

“It’s a role and a responsibility that I’m really looking forward to, getting the season started and hopefully achieving the things that we want to,” he said.

After a forgettable season which saw pundits criticise his form as the Reds finished outside the top four in the English Premier League, Alexander-Arnold wants to deliver a successful campaign.

He returned to pre-season training having ditched his dreadlocks and reverting to a cropped top, prompting Klopp to comment on the club website that the No. 66 is back to the “most successful haircut in his career” and he likes the fact that the right-back had “sacrificed the cool look for success”.

With Fabinho and Jordan Henderson gone, and Thiago Alcantara and Stefan Bajcetic injured, Klopp had experimented with Alexander-Arnold in midfield.

Against both Karlsruher and Greuther Furth, he was deployed in the deep-lying midfield position, although he returned to right-back during the 4-0 win over Leicester City at Kallang on Sunday.

Klopp conceded that there are no “proven” players for that role within his squad and that is something he hopes to rectify in the transfer market, with Southampton defensive midfielder Romeo Lavia among those being linked.

Thus far, the Reds have signed two midfielders in Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.

“It is no secret that we are still looking for players to join us (in the No. 6 position),” said Klopp.

“A proven No. 6 is not available at the moment. If we make an excuse of that and say ‘OK, how can we do that then?’, then we have a problem because in a season, a lot of things can happen.

“If we see it as a positive challenge, we try to find a way to be compact or find a way to deny the opponent. If you do that together, it’s always possible.”

Liverpool begin their new campaign on Aug 13 at Chelsea.