Despite his recent departure from Liverpool, Trent Alexander-Arnold will continue to leave a lasting imprint on Merseyside.
The 26-year-old West Derby native now plies his trade for the Spanish giant Real Madrid. Alexander-Arnold bid farewell to the Reds, having clinched two Premier League titles, two League Cups, an FA Cup, a FIFA Club World Cup and the 2019 Champions League.
His exit, however, sparked a divide among Liverpool supporters, with many feeling it was ill-advised for a local lad like him to depart while the club is in prime position to secure more silverware. Liverpool also faced the prospect of losing their vice-captain for nothing once his contract ran out on June 30.
However, with the FIFA Club World Cup scheduled for next month and Real Madrid participating, there was an opportunity to negotiate a fee to hasten the transfer. Such an agreement was reached last week, with Real Madrid shelling out around £10M ($13.6M) to release him early from his contract.
Alexander-Arnold was highly esteemed for his charitable endeavours in his hometown. This included backing The Whitechapel Centre, a charity for the homeless, and sponsoring the TAA League.
These youth football leagues offer young children the chance to play football at no cost and have been funded by the right-back. The leagues are held at the Tiber Football Centre in Toxteth and the Eddie McArdle Playing Fields on Simonswood Lane in Kirkby.
Following the right-back's departure for Spain, doubts arose about the continuation of funding for these leagues. When Alexander-Arnold announced his exit last month, the ECHO reached out to the TAA League's organizers and the PLG Agency, which represents the footballer, but neither provided a response.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
Alexander-Arnold is continuing to give back
However, in a recent Instagram post, the TAA League confirmed that it would continue to operate. Sean Barrigan, one of the organizers, expressed his gratitude to Alexander-Arnold and his family for their "generosity and kindness".
In a statement after a recent youth tournament, Sean said: "Just want to say a massive thank you to all 40 teams who participated in our tournaments this week, most importantly the 50+ teams who participated in both our leagues this season. It's been an absolute pleasure to have everyone!
"Big thank you to our sites in Tiber, run by Mark, and Kirkby, run by Ben and Scott, for helping us put our matches on and deliver a safe environment for children every single week. Without them the leagues can't run.
"Massive thank you to all the staff through the season on both sites. Special mentions to Wylie, Peter, Sahil, Mahamood of Tiber and Katelyn, Daniel, Josh and other members of staff involved this season in Kirkby for creating brilliant development sessions for the boys and girls through the season.
"Most importantly a special thank you to @trentarnold66 and his family. Without their generosity and kindness, the league would not be able to give all the players free football every single week."
"This is my third year currently coordinating and TAA League's fifth all together. This has been my favorite year so far and yes the league is carrying on. We're looking to go bigger and better this coming year and we are already excited to be back in the first week of September! Thanks again every one!".