Trent has arrived like a rocket. He opened the door and the expectations were already towering. But he surpasses them. On the field, in the dressing room and especially physically. From the very first training sessions it has become clear: a galáctico has been signed. The kind that gives you the feeling that the € 10 million was well spent. Painful, yes – but now less.
Trent-not Alexander-Arnold, remember a football player in capital letters. A real deal. And he already has an impact.
“He is physically like a beast,” says an insider. And that means something, because physical readiness was the only care that was on the way to the club World Cup. Would he be 100%? Would he need time to get completely fit? Nothing could be further from the truth. He is ready to start – and he will do it.
From here, the Focus shifts: adapting to his teammates, learning the mechanics of the team, understanding the base. Which is not a small achievement in this case.
Because Trent is wearing a stat that casts a long shade: since his Premier League debut in December 2016, he is the most dribble defender in the competition (299 times per Opta). That is the Achilles heel. He must be more solid. More a wall. Especially in one-on-one situations.
Arne Slot did not leave him Anfield without a memory: “I tell him: You are a much better defender than people say -but you don't always show it. That is why people doubt you. If you concentrate, there are not many that you can defeat you. But you have to prove it every match,” he said on the eve of the last Premier -Competition day.
The new coaching staff is already working on it. They ask for intensity – one of the fashion words in this first week. And they drill him with dynamic defensive exercises. There is really conviction that he will improve.
Just as there is no doubt about his magic in the future. If the last stat made you nervous, there is one to alleviate your mind: since debuting in the Premier League, no defender has registered any more assists – a total of 64.
That brings us to another important point: on the second training day – Saturday morning, just before the flight to Miami – Trent was already in the corner obligation on the Real Madrid training field. Practice, learn the playbook. The staff had him in mind as one of the customers, and from the first day the fit was of course. A perfectly placed ball in the direction of Huijsen's head went viral. And there were others just like that. He takes most angles from the right.
The man behind that iconic corner against Barcelona knows what he is doing.
Yes, his mission is to improve his defense, his duels, his one-on-one. But on everything else there is total consensus: he leaves teammates, coaches and staff speechless. Trent has arrived like a rocket. He will be the start immediately back in the tournament – no doubt. And in the medium term, a spectacular battle with Carvajal looms. Because a galáctico has landed. And he has an impact.