Paul Merson has waxed lyrical about Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold and feels that his breakthrough this season has gone under the radar.
The 19-year-old has become a regular starter in the first team this campaign and is likely to line up in the starting XI in the Champions League final against Real Madrid.
He is an attack-minded right-back that has developed from the club’s academy and scored three goals in his 30 senior appearances this campaign.
Merson believes that the Liverpool and English full-back is an unsung hero, and he has urged the Merseyside club to nurture his development.
“Trent Alexander-Arnold is my unsung hero of the season because he’s come from nowhere at Liverpool and been very impressive,” Merson wrote in the Daily Star.
“He’s sneaked under the radar a little bit at times but I think he deserves more credit. He’s a young lad playing for a big club where you’re always under pressure.
“Liverpool have found a real gem. They just need to look after him because he’ll be under the microscope a lot as a homegrown youngster.”
OPINION
Alexander-Arnold has been one of the success stories in Liverpool’s season and he is now ahead of Nathaniel Clyne in the pecking order, something that would have seen ludicrous at the start of the campaign. The teenager already looks somewhere near the finished article at his age and he can have an unbelievable career at Anfield. There are some that feel he should be drafted into England’s World Cup squad, but if he misses out this summer there is still surely plenty more ahead for him. Alexander-Arnold offers Liverpool a brilliant threat going forward and is everything a manager could want in a modern day full-back. Meanwhile, Andrew Robertson on the left flank fills a similar role for the Reds and the two full-backs are absolutely crucial to Klopp’s system. They both help both forward in attack and there will certainly be opportunities to do so against Madrid in the Champions League.
