Trent Alexander-Arnold is on course to become one of the greatest full-backs in the history of the game, according to James Milner.
Liverpool’s home-grown star is a key part of their bid to win a first Premier League title — and a first top-flight crown since 1990 — and produced another stunning display in their 4-0 win at second-placed Leicester on Boxing Day.
Jurgen Klopp’s side face Wolves today nine points clear of the Foxes at the top of the Premier League and with the title already looking sewn up after dropping only two points in their opening 18 games. Indeed, Pep Guardiola, manager of defending champions Manchester City, believes the gap of 14 points between them and his side looks too much to overhaul after they lost to Wolves on Friday.
Milner said: ‘He [Alexander-Arnold] will keep improving and, if he keeps doing what he’s doing now for the foreseeable future, given how young he is [21], he’ll have people talking about him for a long, long time.
‘There’s a long way to go and we don’t want him to get a big head but he won’t because there’s plenty of people around him in this dressing-room that will pop it straight away.
‘One of the most impressive things about him is his mentality. You can admire him ability-wise but his mentality is great. He has a great attitude. There’s a lot more to come from him and he will keep on improving and be a massive player for Liverpool for many years to come.
‘When you see the amount of games he has played, occasions he has played, Champions League finals, big games, pushing for the league title games, it’s just massive experience playing alongside these guys.
‘He’s going to make mistakes and will have to bounce back from them. Can he become one of the greats in that position? One hundred per cent.’
Liverpool are winning universal praise for their performances but Milner believes that nothing will distract them from the job at hand.
‘Every time you open your phone there are bulletins and newspaper articles and social media,’ added the midfielder. ‘You have to be even better [than before] at dealing with that and this squad is really good at it. We have to keep doing it.’