For Trent Alexander-Arnold, it's another necessary step towards his ultimate aim.
But it took an intervention from Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp to signify the magnitude of the defender becoming the club’s new vice-captain.
Trent
"I’ve put in a lot of hard work up until this moment to reach these kind of milestones,” says Alexander-Arnold. “It is a moment where I’ve reflected and thought I’m proud of myself. It’s made me smile.”
Klopp interjected: "And it takes something to make him smile!"
Trent: Yeah, it takes a lot to make me smile!” he says. “I’ve never been shy of saying what my ambitions are – it’s always been to captain this club. This is a pathway and a stepping stone to that. It’s a role and responsibility I’m really looking forward to and I can’t wait to get the season started.”
Trent added
“At first I thought he was going to tell me to stop giving the ball away!” says the 24-year-old, prompting laughter from Klopp. “It was a lovely surprise to be honest, not one I was expecting at that moment.
“I thought we would have a conversation about that sort of thing at some point but not at that moment. But it was special, it was a moment I will remember.”
Alexander-Arnold adds: “I feel ready. I feel like I’ve been a leader and I lead by example with the things I do on a daily basis in training and around the lads. The lads see me as someone in a leadership role and I’m happy the manager and staff see that too. My mentality is to lead by example.
“I want to make sure I take responsibility for what I do and how the team performs as well. It’s an amazing position to be in. There’s more responsibility on me to make sure we succeed and achieve the things we want this season.”
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