The 4 Former Ballon d'Or Winners Who Voted for Trent Alexander-Arnold in Kopa Trophy
By Tom Gott
Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold placed sixth in the voting for the first ever 2018 Kopa Trophy on Monday night, with the inaugural award going to Paris Saint-Germain's Kylian Mbappe.
Dortmund's Christian Pulisic and Roma's Justin Kluivert were second and third respectively in the voting, which is done by a jury of 22 former Ballon d'Or winners.
While he may not have won the trophy for the best under 21 player of the year, sixth-placed Alexander-Arnold did get some recognition from a few highly regarded former stars, with four former Ballon d'Or winners placing the Liverpool starlet in their top three picks.
A breakdown of the votes from the judges by the award's organisers France Footbal (via Sport Witness) shows a huge proportion of Alexander-Arnold's points tally came from 1991 Ballon d'Or winner Jean-Pierre Papin, who placed the Englishman second in his rankings.
This was Alexander-Arnold's highest finish on any ballot, but Michael Owen, Pavel Nedved and Denis Law all had the 20-year-old as third on their respective lists. Perhaps surprisingly however, the Liverpool starlet was snubbed by former Reds star Kevin Keegan, who opted for a top three of Mbappe, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Kluivert.
Mbappe and Borussia Dortmund's Pulisic dominated the voting, with the duo finishing first and second respectively. However, the Frenchman was the runaway winner of the award, with all 22 judges naming him as the best young player in the world.
Mbappe was the overwhelming favourite to take home the award, having emerged as one of the finest players in the world. He helped guide PSG to the Ligue 1 title and was a key player for France as their lifted the World Cup trophy during the summer.
However, for Alexander-Arnold, the sixth-placed finish is a deserving reward for the youngster. To date, he has made 36 appearances for Liverpool in 2018, establishing himself as one of England's most exciting young players.
He was given his debut for England in June and, after just one appearance for the Three Lions, was named in Gareth Southgate's World Cup squad.
He made just one appearance during the competition, but Alexander-Arnold will be keen to continue to add to his five international appearances.