How Anfield insiders reacted to reports Trent Alexander-Arnold told Liverpool he’s joining Real Madrid
If reports coming out of the Spanish capital are to be believed, it seems that Trent Alexander-Arnold’s potential move to Real Madrid in the summer is all but sealed.
The incumbent Champions League holders stopped short of lodging a bid ahead of the opening of the January transfer window – instead firming up their interest with an official ‘approach’ for the 26-year-old star.
Liverpool, as is to be expected, were not open to engaging in talks over their vice-captain’s future at the club.
Nonetheless, there’s no escaping this was another clear reminder of the fact that Alexander-Arnold’s current terms are set to expire come the summer.
Madrid, for their part, evidently harbour some expectation that they could convince the Scouser to call time on his Anfield career.
A Real Madrid move is not guaranteed
Despite Michael Owen’s claims to the contrary, Liverpool still have reasonable hopes of keeping our No.66 at Anfield beyond 2025.
Indeed, those close to the club have rejected reports that Alexander-Arnold has already communicated a desire to leave.
“Spanish publication Marca carried an image of Alexander-Arnold on its front page on Saturday with the claim that the player had informed the club of his desire to move to Madrid at the end of the campaign,” Paul Gorst reported for the Liverpool Echo.
“Those suggestions have been dismissed at Anfield, with sources insisting that hasn’t been communicated by either the player himself or his camp, and Liverpool are still hopeful of tying down the 26-year-old to fresh terms.”
It would have most certainly been quite the surprise had we been willing to discuss a presumably low price to shift our world-class defender in the winter window.
With the club on course to at least challenge for all competitions, however, we’d have to question any willingness to consider offers at this stage of the season.
Depriving Arne Slot of the leading right-back in world football – at a time when questions are mounting over the left-back position – is unlikely to go down well with the Anfield faithful.
Does it all come down to the Ballon d’Or?
It’s difficult to determine just to what degree individual achievement ranks over team accomplishments for Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Make no mistake, a move to Real Madrid wouldn’t harm either ambition; Los Blancos have lifted the Champions League trophy in five out of the last 10 campaigns. Likewise, 14 of the last 20 Ballon d’Or winners have come from La Liga’s two most prestigious clubs (a Madrid player lifting the award on seven of these occasions).
There is a cold logic, albeit an unpalatable one for Liverpool fans, potentially underpinning a move to Spain, and that’s without considering the potential financial implications.
That said, it surely won’t have escaped our Academy graduate’s notice that the last defender to win the Ballon d’Or was Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid) in 2006 – the third centre-half to do so after Franz Beckenbauer and Matthias Sammer.
A fullback still has yet to earn the same level of recognition; that’s quite the duck to break in a pressure-cooker environment.
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