Trent Alexander-Arnold can bend it like Beckham, according to the man himself, during a surprise appearance on eSPORTY Drive.
Ex-England captain David Beckham revealed he is a massive fan of the right-back, who has been crowned his successor at Real Madrid.
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Alexander-Arnold’s golden balls have seen him compared to the Manchester United legend since he first emerged at Liverpool.
However, the 27-year-old hasn’t found his skill set to have translated to international success as it did for 115-cap England icon Beckham.
Beckham: ‘I love Trent as a player’
Alexander-Arnold, who was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s bumper 35-man squad, hasn’t featured for the Three Lions since last June.
And his World Cup prospects took a further hit when Ben White was handed a late call-up despite his previous four-year England exile.
Yet after joining Andy Goldstein and Darren Bent live on air ahead of the nation’s friendly against Uruguay on Friday night, Beckham admitted he would find it very hard to leave Alexander-Arnold at home this summer.
“That’s why I’m not England manager, because I don’t have to make those decisions!” the Inter Miami president told eSPORTY. “But, I’m a massive fan of Trent, I love Trent as a player.”
Beckham went on to dismiss the continued argument used against Alexander-Arnold’s defending with a comparison to Roberto Carlos.
“I’ve heard so many times over the years when he was at Liverpool, when he’s at Madrid, when he’s playing for England, about, ‘Well, he’s not as good at defending as he is (attacking)’,” he added.
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Beckham would ‘find it very hard not to take someone like Trent’
“Well, sometimes you have to accept that… Roberto Carlos was an unbelievable defender, but he was also unbelievable going forward.
“He’d always go forward, and then we’d have to cover him, so those kind of things you expect. But with Trent, would I take him? I’d find it very hard not to take someone like Trent.
“But then Thomas, he’s come out and said, I think I read it this morning, that there are other players that are ahead of him at the moment. But he said ‘at the moment’, so that could change.
“I think you said it, tonight [Friday] might prove that other players are playing that might not get in the squad, so you don’t know.
“This is very close to picking a final squad, but I still think that Thomas is probably still considering about Trent as well.”
Despite Alexander-Arnold’s absence, Beckham is still backing England for World Cup glory under Tuchel.
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“I think we’re in the best place that we can be, in all honesty,” he said. “I think we’ve got a very young, talented squad with a great captain leading us in the best of form, probably, of his life with Harry (Kane).
“Obviously, he’s a great leader, and I think Thomas is so meticulous with how he picks the squad, how he runs the squad.
“He’s obviously had past success in the game, but I think that what he brings is how meticulous he will be with every single detail that the England team actually need to perform in this World Cup.
“I think the players will respond to him because he is a top manager, and I think the way he handles the players, the players will respect, and I think they will react in the right way.
“In my opinion, he’ll not be pressured into picking players that people are trying to get him to pick. He’ll pick the team that he thinks will win this World Cup, and I’m looking forward to it, I’m excited about it.”
And when asked later in the show if England can win the World Cup, Beckham emphatically responded: “Absolutely.”
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