Liverpool’s “special” academy star may leave a bigger legacy than Trent

Real Madrid typically get what they want, and they want Liverpool poster boy Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Barring an unforeseen turn of events, Los Blancos will line up for 2025/26 with Alexander-Arnold nestled into the right-back spot, with FSG failing to convince the 26-year-old to pen a new contract, his current deal three months away from expiry.

It’s the first bit of clarity in a campaign that has been decidedly lacking on long-term assurances. More news will follow in the coming weeks – and hopefully more positive news at that.

While emotions are aflame right now, we cannot detract from the incredible work Alexander-Arnold has plied at Anfield. He is a legend, but his legacy freezes abruptly, halted before reaching near inimitable heights.

Trent Alexander-Arnold’s Liverpool legacy

Curiously, official announcements have yet to materialise and may not for weeks yet, but the dust has somewhat settled on Alexander-Arnold’s future.

Liverpool are on course to lift the Premier League title in Arne Slot’s first season in the dugout. It’s the beginning of a new era, one which promises prosperity, but Alexander-Arnold is only available for the overtures. Any future triumphs will not feature him in the celebrations.

How did it get to this stage? Is the right-back’s decision understandable? Acceptable? Fingers can be pointed every which way and reasoning can be found from each angle, but the plain truth is that this one hurts for the Reds, whose rise and rise under Jurgen Klopp coincided largely with the birth of a new homegrown superhero.

In a way, Steven Gerrard was reincarnate through this wonderful, incredible player, genre-bending in his capacity for creativity and art, dazzling on the ball and innovative with his thinking.

But since contract-related noise ramped up, it’s always felt like Trent’s future might lie at the Santiago Bernabeu. Conversely, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah seem more likely to spend next year (at the least) within Slot’s brood, looking to defend their league title and challenge for the other lofty honours once again.

Alexander-Arnold, made vice-captain in 2023, will not wear the armband, not properly, not as was preordained when he escaped footballing boyhood and clearly became one of the great game’s distinguished technicians.

He currently has 349 Liverpool appearances to his name with 22 goals and 87 assists. Trent is the highest-assisting defender in Premier League history.

For those who are aggrieved, dismayed, Alexander-Arnold’s legacy will stand strong through the ages, withstand the test of time. But it could have been more.

In fact, there’s a homegrown member of Slot’s Liverpool squad who may even eclipse Alexander-Arnold.

Here’s why.

The academy star who may leave a bigger legacy

Alexander-Arnold is leaving Liverpool, but Liverpool has more than enough to forge plenty of success over the coming years. With such rich options across the park and coffers deep enough to replenish with high-level options, there’s much to look forward to with Slot at the helm.

But the academy connection runs deep, and Curtis Jones is now tasked with stepping up to the plate and raising his own bar. He will, after all, be the eldest child in the Kirkby family, and one of the more experienced first-team players besides.

Indeed, having featured 170 times for the Reds, Jones, 24, has scored 19 goals and provided 20 assists, excelling in parts this season, seemingly enamoured with Slot’s brand of fluent football.

He’s been in and out of the starting line-up, but Jones is unquestionably a first-team mainstay, with the technical quality and midfield dynamism to become one of the city’s standout stars with just a few more developments to his sprawling skill set.

As per FBref, Jones ranks among the top 6% of midfielders across the whole of Europe over the past year for assists, the top 1% for pass completion, the top 14% for successful take-ons, the top 4% for touches in the attacking penalty area and the top 13% for tackles in the middle third.

Those last few metrics border on obscurity, but they do highlight his combativeness in the middle of the park, willingness to jump forward and impact in the final third as well as maintain possession when in the depths of Slot’s ball-playing game. A paragon of composure and metronomic presence, Jones bears the blueprint of a superstar.

After all, FBref’s data-driven collections reveal that Jude Bellingham is his most comparable player. Now there’s a player, albeit not one whose achieved much popularity with the Liverpool fanbase.

So what’s the point of all this? Why is it pertinent? Well, as previously alluded to, Jones has made steady progress at Liverpool since making his debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers in January 2019, since curling home that oh-so-sweet strike against Everton in the FA Cup, announcing himself.

Development is not linear, and Jones has had to battle through adversity to cement a place in Liverpool’s squad, dealt bad hands on the injury front as well as some contentious hindrances in regard to disciplinary dealings.

But Jones has emerged from the fiery gates of uncertainty as an avid youth, now regarded as one of Liverpool’s most talented and valuable players. CIES Football Observatory, in fact, have recorded Jones to have a market value of £67m, above the likes of Conor Gallagher and Dejan Kulusevski.

Maybe he’ll never quite inspire awe as Alexander-Arnold’s almost celestial range of passing has done, but Jones is industrious as they come; his heart beats Liverpool red.

You wouldn’t bet against the silky centre-midfielder from emulating Gerrard and retiring a one-club man. Hailed for his “special” performance for England against Greece in November by Fabrizio Romano, scoring on his debut, Jones is clearly going from strength to strength.

Should that be the case, given the trajectory Liverpool are following and the high regard he is held in by Slot, Jones may well be remembered more fondly than his soon-to-be-former teammate Trent when all’s said and done.

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