Jordan Henderson’s tattoo story with Trent Alexander Arnold is just brilliant

"We should get tattoos."

Jordan Henderson has a tattoo of the Champions League trophy on his thigh, but the story of why he got it and Trent Alexander Arnold's role in it, is just too funny. It was 2019 and Liverpool were crowned as European champions for the sixth time, and Henderson had banished some demons by finally lifting some major silverware as club captain. At last all of the hard work, the criticism, the negative press, the comparisons to Steven Gerrard, all of it didn't matter anymore, because he was now a European winning captain. So, many believe that this is why Henderson decided to get a tattoo of the trophy with the date of the final, tattooed on his leg. However, it came about because of the impulsive idea of his young teammate, Trent Alexander Arnold, and as the Reds skipper reveals in his new book Jordan Henderson, not everyone follows through on their ideas. After the final, both players were on England duty for the Nations League, and while sitting in a hotel room, Trent had a lightbulb moment.

'We should get tattoos', he said. 'We should get the Champions League trophy tattooed on our calves.'

I haven't got many tattoos, just ones of my kids which are on my ribs. Straight away, I said I was up for it though.  'You will do it too, right?' It was he who suggested it after all.  'One hundred percent,' he said. We were both going to Los Angeles for our summer break so I thought I would send Daniel Agger a message. Daniel knows everything there is to know about tattoos, he's covered in them, and is a qualified tattoo artist. I was sure he would know someone that he would be able to fix us up with in LA. I liked the idea that we could turn up, and know we were getting it done properly by someone who had been recommended.  I told Trent that I would contact Dan, and that we would get them done when we were in LA. We could just turn up and know that they would do a good job.  https://twitter.com/Now_FootbaIl/status/1200924479775498240 'Yeah yeah' Trent said. 'Brilliant, love it.' I wanted to double check with him before I organised it. 'You're sure aren't you?' I asked again. 'You're absolutely sure?' He said 'yeah yeah, absolutely.' So I texted Dan, and he said it wouldn't be a problem, and that he knew someone not far from LA and that he would arrange it.  A week after he messaged again. 'All sorted' he said. He gave us the date, the time, the location, and who we needed to see, everything, brilliant. 

The night before, Trent and I had gone out to get food. We were both staying in Beverly Hills, I was in a hotel and he was in a villa somewhere. 

At the end of the evening, I arranged to pick him up the next morning, and we would head out. 'I'll pick you up at 11' I said. Trent said 'sound.' So I pulled up outside his villa at 11am, I thought he might be waiting, but it was quiet.  I waited for a bit and then he came out, he was looking a bit sheepish. 'Come on' I said, 'get in.'

"'Erm' he said quietly, 'I can't come.'  'You what?' My face dropped. 'What do you mean you can't come?' 'I can't come,' he said again. 'I can't come because my mum says I'm not allowed.' 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzUgrxxHjY7/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=3a9e1e78-1a85-4672-82be-bb81b715f304 This is a wind-up surely, I'm thinking to myself. 'You f***ing what?' I said. 'Get in the car man, we've got to go. Are you serious, your mam says you can't get a tattoo?' He was serious. It turned out that Trent had mentioned the tattoo to his brother Tyler, and Tyler had mentioned it to his mam, and his mam had rang Trent up and basically said 'You're not getting a tattoo. End of!' Well they say mothers know best, so poor Henderson had to go on his own, and it turned out great of course, but as the midfielder goes on to say in his book, 'As far as I'm concerned, Trent owes me a tattoo,' so watch this space. Related links:

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