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Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold on his role model and potential midfield switch

Alexander-Arnold recently compared to De Bruyne by Carragher

Mark Critchley
Northern Football Correspondent
Thursday 10 October 2019 07:57 BST
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England and Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold
England and Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold

Trent Alexander-Arnold has revealed that he has modelled his career to date on Liverpool great Steven Gerrard and that he could move into a midfield role one day.

Alexander-Arnold has started the season brilliantly at club level and hopes to carry that form into England’s European Championship qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.

The full-back broke the record for the most Premier League assists by a defender in a single season in May, having set up 12 goals during the 2018-19 campaign.

Alexander-Arnold already has three assists across all competitions this season, leading Jamie Carragher to compare him to Manchester City playmaker Kevin de Bruyne.

The 21-year-old played as a deep-lying creative midfielder as a youngster, describing himself as “someone who liked to get on the ball and make things happen”.

And he is open to returning to the middle of the park for club or country, where he can more closely emulate his idol Gerrard.

When asked about Carragher’s De Bruyne comparison, Alexander-Arnold said: “Obviously I’m a defender first and foremost, then I want to try and help the team create chances.

“There are different positions, different types of players, but that’s his point of view. Maybe one day that will happen.

“For now the manager has decided I’m a right back. That’s where I’ll play.” On whether he would be open to a midfield role, he said: “Yeah, I’m really not fussed where I play.

“I just want to play football. If a manager decides to use me in midfield, or as a centre-back or a striker then that’s where I’ll play.

“[I modelled myself on] Gerrard, really. Everything about his game I always admired. I always studied him and wanted to be like him.

“It’s maybe not that important to compare because at a young age, you haven’t achieved the things those types of players have. It’s difficult to say whether you will or won’t. Who knows?

“For now, it’s about having an open mind and wanting to achieve those types of levels, wanting to be those types of players, wanting to reach the levels they’ve reached.

“Being regarded in the same bracket as them is something the best players want.”

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