Gerrard explains why one exit last summer hurt Liverpool so much

He then left the door open emotionally, saying: “Hopefully, hopefully, he might return one day.”

That will resonate with plenty of Liverpool supporters because, however angry people remain about the way Trent left, nobody can seriously question the level of talent we lost.

The former No.66 made 354 appearances for us, won two Premier League titles and the Champions League, and changed what supporters thought a right-back could be.

Liverpool have clearly missed Trent

James Pearce has already argued that Liverpool have missed Alexander-Arnold even more than Luis Diaz this season, pointing to the creativity and balance we once had down that right side with Mo Salah.

That feels hard to dispute when we’ve seen Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong struggle with injuries, Dominik Szoboszlai used out of position and our attacking patterns become far less settled.

Gerrard has previously said that, with his Liverpool hat on, his reaction to the move was: “What are you doing?”

That remains the feeling for many of us because Gerrard stayed loyal through far harder years, while Trent walked away from a great Liverpool team that still needed him.

Alexander-Arnold let a lot of supporters down, but Gerrard is right about one thing: replacing a world-class local player is never simple.