Revered Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson once infamously claimed that his great challenge across his illustrious and lengthy tenure at Old Trafford was knocking Liverpool off their perch.
He succeeded, or at least, as the Red Devils prospered through the 90s and the noughties, Liverpool failed to glean silverware with any real regularity, a shadow of the domineering Anfield sides of the 70s and 80s.
Barring lone moments of success, Liverpool were yearning for a return to true prominence and found their catalyst in an eccentric German named Jurgen Klopp, who transformed the outfit upon his arrival in 2015.
What have Liverpool achieved under Jurgen Klopp?
After joining a Liverpool side lacking objective and drive following his dismissal from Borussia Dortmund, Klopp set to work in instilling a new mentality on Merseyside, and while his first few campaigns brought newfound promise, the end result remained the same.
Indeed, Liverpool fell at the final hurdle in the Europa League, Carabao Cup and Champions League under Klopp's wing before finally rising to the fore and triumphing in the 2018/19 Champions League final, opening the gates for a torrent of silverware.
Having now also won the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup, Klopp has crafted a dynasty, distinguished by astute work on the transfer front, identifying promising talents and turning them into first-class stars.
The likes of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Virgil van Dijk and Andrew Robertson are evidence of the success of this method, but one of Klopp's greatest, most emblematic phenoms comes in the form of Trent Alexander-Arnold, whose ascent from the academy ranks typifies the brilliance of the Anfield side over the past years.
How much was Trent Alexander-Arnold worth in 2017?
In August 2017, an 18-year-old Alexander-Arnold fired home a direct free-kick to hand Liverpool a 2-1 away lead in the Champions League play-off round against Hoffenheim.
It was the start of a sensational career as one of the creative centrepieces of a prosperous outfit; now aged 24, the England international will feel that his best days lie ahead.
According to Football Transfers, the right-back was believed to be worth around £7m at the time, and while the youngster was held in high regard, few could have predicted that seven years on he would stand as the most valuable of all positional peers worldwide.
Trent Alexander-Arnold
£55m
Reece James
£49m
Andy Robertson
£47.5m
Jules Kounde
£47.2m
Theo Hernandez
£44.5m
Marc Cucurella
£43m
Alphonso Davies
£42.7m
Across the 2017/18 campaign, the Liverpool-born ace would make 34 appearances, scoring three goals and supplying two assists, earning 18 starts in the English top-flight and playing a pivotal role in the Champions League conquest, losing the final to Real Madrid 3-1 on that ill-fated day.
Hailed as "phenomenal" and "top-class" by Liverpool's former stalwart James Milner upon winning the Young Player of the Year award in 2018, Alexander-Arnold has now played a crucial role in winning the whole gamut of silverware under Klopp's wing, and is rightfully considered among the best, most destructively creative players in the world.
What is Trent Alexander-Arnold's market value now?
Alexander-Arnold's performances with Liverpool have seen his market value skyrocket, with Football Transfers now valuing the player at £55m, which is indeed the largest value of any full-back in the game.
Simply indispensable to Liverpool's system, the £180k-per-week phenom has now made 277 appearances for his boyhood club, scoring 16 goals and supplying 73 assists.
The 20-cap England star is one of the most technically brilliant players around, with talkSPORT host Tony Cascarino even going as far as to say that he "has qualities that are not far off Lionel Messi".
A bold claim, but the innate ability at Alexander-Arnold's disposal is irrefutable, having cemented a starring spot in one of Europe's most devastating and delightful sides of the modern age.
Heralded for his "sensational" ball-striking ability by commentator Martin Tyler, there are few who can match the world-class talent and indeed very few teams across Europe to boast such a blistering creative force, let alone from the defence.
Why is Trent Alexander-Arnold worth that much?
Dubbed a "genius" by journalist Neil Jones, the 5 foot 8 full-back has dazzled with his defence-splitting passes and incredible rate of assisting on the domestic and continental scene.
In the Premier League, Alexander-Arnold has posted 55 assists despite being a defender and on the lower side of 25; in fact, teammate Robertson is the only defender to boast a higher tally, having placed 57 from 256 Premier League appearances – the Scotland captain's right-sided confrere has played 202 times in the English top-flight, 54 matches fewer.
A superlative option, his work from the right channel has allowed the likes of Salah and co to wreak havoc for years, with FBref ranking the homegrown gem among the top 6% of positional peers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for assists, the top 4% for shot-creating actions, the top 2% for passes attempted and the top 5% for progressive passes per 90.
It's not always been plain sailing for the Englishman, who has received sustained criticism across the duration of his senior career for lackadaisical defending and carelessness in protecting Alisson's goal.
Once branded a "training dummy" by reporter Casey Evans after a particularly ignominious display against Real Madrid in the Champions League last season, dismantled by the fleet-footed phenom Vinicius Jr.
Bewildered by the rebuke, Klopp claimed his star is truly "world-class", and it's hard to dispute that he sits in the pantheon of modern ball-players of the highest quality, even named as Liverpool's vice-captain this season following the summer departures of Milner and Jordan Henderson.
Having hit double figures for assists in three of the past five campaigns (supplying nine and seven across the other two), Alexander-Arnold is the fulcrum of the supplementation of Klopp's outfit, and after sustaining such unbelievable numbers across his career thus far, deservedly takes his place as the most valuable of his position worldwide.
Klopp's Liverpool tenure is steeped in success, and while his fantastic, transformative effect on the club is often characterised by the shrewd transfer business, which is rightfully lauded, it is the emergence of Alexander-Arnold which might have had the most profound influence on the reshaping and resurgence of the proud Premier League outfit.