TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD HAS agreed terms on a move to Real Madrid this summer, according to reports.
The Liverpool star has long been expected to swap Anfield for the Bernabeu on a free transfer when his contract expires at the end of the season, and multiple reports now say the 26-year-old has finalised a five-year contract worth more than €260,000 a week.
The England international, who came through the ranks at Liverpool and has been at the Premier League club for more than two decades, has been able to discuss terms with overseas clubs since January.
Alexander-Arnold made his Liverpool debut as an 18-year-old in 2016.
His honours with the club include the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and Club World Cup and he is on course to add a second league crown this season with Arne Slot’s side currently 12 points clear at the top of the table.
Alexander-Arnold is one of three key Liverpool players out of contract this summer, with the futures of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk still unclear.
Liverpool have declined to comment on the reports.
I’m a Liverpool fan and honestly I don’t begrudge him at all. He’s won everything with Liverpool and given fantastic service over 8 seasons. He’s 26 and has a chance to star for the biggest team in football, play with some the biggest players – including one of his best mates. He is also young enough that he may be able to come back some day, although that rarely works out. He won’t get to captain his boyhood team – a stated aim – but tbh I don’t think he is captain material, and I suspect the club feels the same.
Liverpool miss out on £100m which is pretty crazy, but that is nothing to do with Trent; he has not been offside here. Huge error by LFC, but I wish TAA well.
@Brian Corcoran: Personally, I think the only loss from Liverpool’s point of view is the fact he goes on a free. As a complete neutral, I don’t think the grass gets greener than Liverpool in his situation. Sure, maybe weather, high life, etc might be better but from a sporting perspective I think he could struggle. Real Madrid fans are notoriously cutthroat and he’s more than capable of mistakes. They won’t be quite as forgiving as Liverpool fans in that sense. It can get the better of a lot of players and I find a lot of English footballers are a bit mentally fragile.
@Ultán Corcoran: yeah, agree. It all worked out for McManaman, but Michael Owen effectively ended his career aged 25 by going to Madrid. He had scored 157 goals in the previous 7 seasons; he only ever scored 48 goals more over the next 9 seasons as he quickly became an irrelevance.
For this reason, I doubt Salah or Van Dijk will leave. Their best bet for trophies is Liverpool.
Real Madrid be unstoppable now
@Jed Ward: there’ll be more arrivals soon
Im not an LFC fan but this move seems to makes sense for everyone involved. Not many english lads can live the dream of madrid. Just watch the Beckham documentary to see how big it is for a player to achieve. He’s lived his LFC dream fair play to him.
Disappointing to see but TAA brings as many problems as positives to the team. La Liga may well suit him better. I doubt very much that money was the deciding factor here which is almost a pity. It will definitely affect his Liverpool legacy and how is considered by the club and fans. Whether he will care is another question
This stage, don’t think scousers will care. Lad is nowhere near the player he has been, so it needs to be setlled one way or another for the good of the club, and TTA (or the other two on contract delays) is not bigger than LFC…
Boyhood club to Madrid. That says a lot doesn’t it. And Liverpool on verge of league title. Hmmm
@Gary Galligan: on the other side of it, he’s won everything he can with Liverpool
Need back up for Bradley now.
He must be earning feck all at Liverpool if he’s moving for €260k/week. Nice to get over 5 years, but I’d expected he was moving for a bit more.
@James: it’s Real Madrid, base salary is not the entire package so they don’t need to offer massive money. Tere’ll be a big signing on payment as well, and no doubt the win and contribution bonuses will be healthy to say the least. And if his agent hasn’t negotiated a share of global image rights and shirt sales profits he’s clueless, and should be fired…
@James: that’s net. Football Salaries in Spain are negotiated on net basis.
Good luck
Best of luck TAA and thanks for all you’ve done. I’m happy with this because he’s a pretty unreliable defender. Bradley far superior in the core role.
Conor Bradley!!!
Hard to know if this move will work out for me. Beckham didn’t have great years there. I wonder if they will look to change his position as defensive side of rb is going to continue to be an issue for him.