Jurgen Klopp has revealed the “beautiful story” behind Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s rise under his management at Liverpool, proving advice to his mother wrong.
Throughout Klopp’s entire career as a manager – at Mainz, Dortmund and Liverpool – only three players have made more appearances than Alexander-Arnold (309).
That is a remarkable statistic considering the right-back is still only 25, with Klopp effectively building his system around his unique quality.
But before the German arrived on Merseyside, Alexander-Arnold’s mother harboured concerns over whether he would even be given the opportunity under a foreign manager.
In an interview with The Anfield Wrap ahead of his final game in charge, Klopp revealed a conversation with Dianne Alexander-Arnold at the AXA Training Centre.
“This morning, Trent’s mum was here and she wanted to say thank you and goodbye more or less,” the manager explained.
“She told me what she thought when Brendan left and I came in, and how she thought.
“Because they told her before when Trent was even younger that when your boy is of the age, you need an English manager, because managers from other countries don’t look at the academy.
“So she was really worried that could happen, and how that all worked out. That’s a beautiful story.
“She was in the building, because the first contract I think she did them, she was in the building for the first two contracts probably.
“It’s really funny, I see her now and how well she’s doing and looks great and is happy.
“Trent obviously did really well, his brother is an agent now and all that happened in that time.”
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