Before basking in the acclaim and adulation of the Kop whenNo 20 was sealed two Sundays ago, Trent Alexander-Arnold headed for the suits. There was a warm embrace between the Liverpool star and Michael Edwards, chief executive of football at Fenway Sports Group, and another with Richard Hughes, the man who initiated contract talks with Alexander-Arnold’s brother and agent prior to starting as the club’s new sporting director last summer and has faced a losing battle on that score ever since.
They all knew it was endingbut there were evidently no hard feelings. Liverpool feel they did everything they could to persuade Alexander-Arnold to stay. They offered a new deal that reflected his status as the finest full-back in the Premier League and one of the best in the world. They not only offered success, Arne Slot’s team delivered it. But they could not offer a new experience to a player whose stated aim is to win the Ballon d’Or and wants “that legacy of being the greatest right-back to have played football. I have got to reach for the stars”.
Strictly business, although losing Alexander-Arnold to the entitled egomaniacs of Real Madrid will hurt, and not only in football terms. Liverpool’s sense of being a destination and not a stepping stone has taken a hit despiteMohamed SalahandVirgil van Dijk confirmingthere is no place their world-class talents would rather be.
The Premier League champions are losing a unique, homegrown asset for nothing. That will sting FSG almost as much as the supporters, who understandably cannot reconcile one of their own wanting to jump ship at any moment, let alone after the high of the club’s record-equalling league title. If the Anfield celebrations on the day the championship was secured against Tottenham could not change the defender’s mind – and he had informed Slot of his decision to leave in late March – nothing would.
Alexander-Arnold has been a first-team fixture atLiverpoolfor nine seasons. Awareness of him dates back longer. Steven Gerrard marked him out as having “a terrific chance of making it as a top professional” in his 2015 autobiography. He was Trent Arnold back then and had caught Gerrard’s eye playing as a holding midfielder in the under-16s team he was coaching. “He’s quite leggy but he’s got a lovely frame and seems to have all the attributes you need,” wrote the Liverpool legend. “He’s still not strong enough at the moment, but that will come.”
The full-back grew up near Liverpool’s former Melwood training ground in West Derby wanting to emulate Gerrard’s achievements in a red shirt. He has surpassed them in terms of silverware but, unlike his boyhood hero, has been able to cut ties with the city and the club in the prime of his career. Gerrard was more of a home Liverbird. It is not difficult to imagine Alexander-Arnold wanting to embrace a new challenge, a new culture, a new language and fitting in with the celebrity lifestyle at Real Madrid alongside his good friend Jude Bellingham. Alexander-Arnold’s world-class vision and assists will grace the Bernabéu but for a generation of Madrid fans accustomed to the superior defensive application of Dani Carvajal, the difference may be striking.
Amid the furious accusations of betrayal it is worth considering that Alexander-Arnold has been at Liverpool for 20 years, joining the club’s academy as a promising six-year-old. He has already given a lifetime of service in terms of a football career, along with the memories and medals. A highly intelligent man with interests varying from chess to fashion to Formula One – he isan investor in the Alpine racing team– the defender will have a natural curiosity to see what else football has to offer. There is more to his departure than the lucrative contract he will receive as a free agent. However, Alexander-Arnold will know how his exit will be received by fellow Liverpool fans. It will – is – viewed as a defection, not a departure, by someone the Kop lauds as the “scouser in our team”.
His emergence was at the heart of Liverpool’s re-emergence under Jürgen Klopp. He was handed his full Premier League debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford, the first of many examples of Klopp placing his trust in and creating a pathway for the club’s academy prospects. His first senior goal was a superb free-kick that set Liverpool on course forvictory over Hoffenheimin a Champions League playoff in August 2017. He was also caught out in that first leg by a long diagonal ball that led to Hoffenheim’s consolation goal. The occasional lapse in concentration is something Slot has been working on with the player all season.
Sign up toFootball Daily
Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football
after newsletter promotion
That victory against Hoffenheim also set Klopp’s side on course for the Champions League final in Kyiv in 2018, when Alexander-Arnold became the youngest Liverpool player to start in the showpiece occasion. A year later he became the youngest player to start two consecutive Champions League finals when Liverpool returned towin the trophyin Alexander-Arnold’s future home of Madrid.
There were 12 Premier League assists in 2018-19, a new Premier League record for a defender of 13 assists as Liverpoolswept to the title the following season, and another dozen league assists in 2021-22. That season would produce a career-best 19 assists in total as Liverpool played an epic 63-game campaign and Alexander-Arnold continued to redefine what it meant to be a full-back. At 23 years of age, the defender had won every competition he had competed in with Liverpool – the Champions League, the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup, Club World Cup, Uefa Super Cup and Community Shield. Another Premier League and League Cup have since been added to the collection. That doesn’t happen to a defender who cannot defend. The glittering CV also explains his desire to try something new.
Salah has been the grateful recipient of countless moments of instinctive genius from Alexander-Arnold. Their connection and movement have been integral features of the Liverpool team under Klopp and Slot, and sets a ridiculously high benchmark for Conor Bradley, or whoever succeeds the right-back, to follow. Among many other standout Alexander-Arnold memories is theperformance in the evisceration of Leicesterthat came days after Liverpool’s triumphant return from the Club World Cup in Qatar. There were some reservations inside the camp as to how the travel and temperatures would affect the team on its swift return to domestic action on Boxing Day. Hitting new heights in a 4-0 win, with Alexander-Arnold involved in all four goals, was a decisive moment in Liverpool’s quest to end their 30-year wait for title No 19.
Alexander-Arnold has captained his boyhood club, fulfilling a lifelong ambition, and flourished in a hybrid full-back/midfield role under Klopp, the man who appointed him Liverpool’s vice-captain in July 2023. He has given his all and done it all. There is still a Premier League trophy lift and parade to come. It will be interesting to hear how Alexander-Arnold’s part in the celebrations after Crystal Palace visit Anfield on 25 May is received, or how Anfield reacts to confirmation of his exit against Arsenal on Sunday. An awkward few weeks await but Liverpool will move on, as they always do.