Trent Alexander-Arnold’s performance during Liverpool’s 3-0 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday completely astounded midfielder Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid and England.
The “scouser in the team” played a key role in the victory by taking over as captain for the suspended Virgil van Dijk.
A well-rounded performance from a creative and defensive standpoint was followed by an assist in the third minute for Dominik Szoboszlai’s elegant opener. Alexander-Arnold recorded 94 touches, two crosses, two shots, five key passes, 90.8% pass accuracy, and five key passes, according to WhoScored.
He also managed two interceptions as the Reds kept their first clean sheet of the 2023/24 Premier League season
The 24-year-old’s day may not have gone as planned as he waits for the results of a scan to determine whether he has a hamstring injury.
Nevertheless, he took to Instagram to share his happiness at captaining his childhood team in the English top division without making any mention of the potential injury.
Soon after, Bellingham could be seen in the comments section praising his compatriot’s performance with the two words “serious player.
The 20-year-old could have been watching along for various reasons – following a friend’s progress ahead of hopefully linking up for the international break or watching the cross-city rivals of his childhood club Birmingham City defeated, for example.
The interaction, however, also helps to clear the mind of regrets.
Bellingham, who is currently signed to Los Blancos, was expected to be the face of Liverpool’s summer engine room rebuild for the majority of 2023; however, a move was ruled out just before the transfer window opened because Anfield management preferred to divide their budget up in order to pursue multiple targets.
They did just that, spending a total of £146 million to acquire Ryan Gravenberch, Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, and Alexis Mac Allister. This made it possible for their former target to transfer from Borussia Dortmund to the Santiago Bernabau for more than half of that sum, or £88m, and there has been no looking back since.
Although the midfielder had a strong start to the La Liga season, after four appearances he had scored five goals and provided one assist, with the most recent of those goals coming in the 95th minute to give the Spanish club a victory over Getafe on their return to their renovated home stadium.
