Trent Alexander-Arnold is not talking about football.
“When I was growing up, me and my brothers always played chess,” recalls the Liverpool No.66, smiling fondly, at the beginning of an exclusive interview with Liverpoolfc.com.
“That came through my parents because they were quite strict on education and it’s educational. There was chess at school and I used to get involved in that. I always played it growing up.”
And nothing has changed.
These days, though, the Liverpool defender’s opposition is provided by teammate Ben Woodburn. The hours they share travelling with the first team are whiled away by tactical battles on a virtual chess board – or, in the case of a pre-season trip last summer, a real one.