A relentless season has finally come to a close for Trent Alexander-Arnold after his early release from the England squad, a pre-planned decision by manager Gareth Southgate.
After a 47-game campaign for Liverpool that amounted to 4,234 minutes, the third most of any of Jurgen Klopp‘s players, a summer break will be a much-needed one for the right-back.
Alexander-Arnold also amassed 255 minutes for his country throughout the season, the last of which came in the 1-0 defeat at Hungary and saw him feature at right wing-back.
He was then an unused substitute as England scored late to secure a 1-1 draw with Germany on Tuesday evening, in what was the final involvement in a matchday squad for Alexander-Arnold this season.
Have a good summer, @TrentAA ?
As planned, the #ThreeLions defender heads home following the first part of camp. pic.twitter.com/fR3130Mxy0
— England (@England) June 8, 2022
At the time of Southgate’s squad selection, he said of Liverpool’s No. 66: “He will probably be with us for the first part of the camp, and then we think that will probably be enough for him.”
And that plan has come to fruition, with the 23-year-old bidding his national teammates goodbye on Wednesday ahead of the Three Lions’ final Nations League fixtures against Italy (June 11) and Hungary (June 14).
He is not the first Liverpool player to be released early from international duty this month or omitted completely due to the taxing nature of the campaign.
Virgil van Dijk was tasked with playing just one game for the Netherlands, while Luis Diaz was handed the chance to start his summer break early by Colombia.
There are just over three weeks until Liverpool’s pre-season is to get underway on July 4.
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