“Wow. What a ball.”
It wasn’t the first time Jurgen Klopp had made such a statement when watching Trent Alexander-Arnold.
You can bet it won’t be the last time either.
Klopp was back at Anfield on Sunday to watch his former side lift the Premier League trophy. Liverpool had won the title back in April with a 5-1 dismantling of Tottenham.
It had been a four week party, for players and fans, leading up to this match against Crystal Palace.
With one exception.
Alexander-Arnold finally confirmed he would be leaving the club following the 3-1 loss to Chelsea in early May.
In the game following the announcement, a match at Anfield against Arsenal, the right-back was brought off the bench and every single touch he had was met with a chorus of boos.
This irked a lot of people. Pundits, rival fans, journalists and former players all seemed confused by this reaction. The No66 had won everything with the Reds. A local lad who lived out his dreams.
They believed he should be celebrated rather than vilified for looking to try something new.
Even Klopp had his say on this.
"I don't want to tell you what you have to think. I can tell you what you think is wrong. I don't tell you that you should not be angry, you should not be disappointed, I tell you don't forget. This club doesn't forget.
"I watched the game when he came on and I heard the booing. I switched the telly [television] off. Honestly, I could not have been more disappointed at this moment."
What a lot of people missed, though, was that Liverpool fans weren’t booing Alexander-Arnold for wanting to leave. He was being booed for how he went about it.
They didn’t hate the sinner. They hated the sin.
For the best part of 12 months, he gave ers false hope. The celebrations weren’t that of a man looking to leave. They say actions speak louder than words. If you believe that, you’d be forgiven for thinking he was staying.
Fans wanted to get their point across and they did just that. He wasn’t going to get a heroes send off. He wasn’t going to get a month-long farewell party.
In the end, he got his farewell. He called it a fairytale ending because, well, for him it is.
In his final game for the club, he got to lift the Premier League title in front of a packed out Anfield. Alexander-Arnold, and his family, will forever have that moment now.
He was cheered onto the pitch at half-time when he replaced Conor Bradley. He was given a cheer when his name was announced as he walked up to receive his winner’s medal.
He was given the love he clearly felt he deserved as he lifted the Premier League title in front of the Kop.
"I hope that one day the fans will be able to recognise everything I've done for the team."
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 25, 2025
Trent Alexander-Arnold reflects on 20 years at Liverpool. pic.twitter.com/VPAKfHVzWU
For all he’s done for the club, he did deserve these moments. He missed out on them when the club won the Premier League title in 2019/20 because of COVID restrictions.
Alexander-Arnold, the best right-back in the club’s history, deserved it.
There’s no disputing that. There’s no escaping it.
He’s the best academy graduate at Anfield since Steven Gerrard. The England international transformed the full-back role and played his part in his boyhood club winning absolutely everything.
He wasn’t just a cog in this success either, he defined some of the biggest moments of the Klopp era.
And, like it or not, he played his role in Liverpool winning their 20th league title.
By no means was this his best campaign in red, but he was still influential. In fact, only Mohamed Salah (18) managed to rack up more assists for Liverpool this season. Alexander-Arnold finished with six in the Premier League across his 33 appearances.
Disappointing by his standards given he managed 12 or more in three seasons for the Merseyside club.
But this particular metric doesn’t tell the whole story. For example, he ranked second for big chances within the Liverpool team, fourth for chances created and second for expected assists (xA) with 7.4.
Had his teammates been a little better in the penalty area, he’s finishing the season in double digits for assists.
Alexander-Arnold was 14th in the Premier League for big chances created and sixth for xA. He’s the only defender in the top 30 for the latter of those stats.
He should’ve ed an assist against Palace on Sunday. It would’ve been a fitting end for him in red. Playing a that few others would even spot, let alone attempt.
Having picked the ball up in his own half, he played a perfectly weighted in behind the Palace backline for Dean Henderson.
This was the Klopp was fawning over.
Despite playing just 45 minutes against the Eagles, Alexander-Arnold ranked second for chances created. Cody Gakpo was the only player to create more chances (three) in the game and the Dutchman played the full 90 minutes.
But that, right there, is what Liverpool are going to miss.
They’re going to have to replace his ability to create something out of nothing. They’re going to miss his vision. His ability on the ball.
And, most importantly, his game-breaking trait.
For now, things are still raw. He won’t be as appreciated as he should be because of how he decided to leave. He might not ever be truly appreciated by fans, purely because he opted to leave.
But Alexander-Arnold was brilliant for Liverpool. What he does now shouldn’t impact his legendary status.
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