Trent Alexander-Arnold explains decision to leave Liverpool in emotional video message | OneFootball

Trent Alexander-Arnold has confirmed that he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season after 20 years at his boyhood club.

The Liverpool vice-captain was out of contract at the end of June and could complete his long-awaited move to Real Madrid before the summer’s Club World Cup.

As a lifelong fan, Alexander-Arnold joined Liverpool at the age of six and made more than 350 appearances for the Reds after graduating through the academy. He emerged as one of the most creative right backs in the world, redefining his position, and won every major honour with the club, adding a second Premier League title last week.

The 26-year-old England international explained his decision to leave Anfield in a video message posted on Monday, featuring a montage of his time at the club.

“After 20 years at Liverpool Football club, I’ll be leaving at the end of the season,” he said.

“The decision for me is personal. To change environment, to challenge myself elsewhere.

“It’s not about wanting to find something better, it’s about me and my personal journey as a player, and I feel like now is the right time for me to go and experience that. It’s something that I feel like I need to do on my journey and my career.

“The times that I’ve had here, the memories, the special moments, are and will always be some of the best moments I’ll have in my life and memories that will live with me forever. Being able to sit here now, as a two-time Premier League champion, for the club that I grew up loving, is a great end to the story for me.

“The club, the city, the fans, the people have given me things I could never have dreamt of in my wildest dreams.

“I’ll never forget it and I can’t thank everyone enough for the support, the belief, the amazing moments that we’ve had.

“The love I have for this club will never leave, it will never diminish, I’ll love it forever. I’ll forever be in debt to the club and the fans for everything they’ve done for me. And there’s no doubt about it, I’ll be back. Any chance I get I’ll come and watch games, I’ll be supporting, I’ll be wanting the club to win, wanting the club to be successful. There’s nothing changing in that. I will always remain a Liverpool fan.”

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The announcement came after Liverpool wrapped up the Premier League title at the end of April (Getty Images)

Liverpool recently agreed contract extensions with star forward Mohamed Salah and captain Virgil van Dijk, whose previous deals were also set to expire at the end of the season, but Real Madrid’s interest meant the Premier League champions were resigned to losing Alexander-Arnold on a free.

As a local, Alexander-Arnold celebrated Liverpool’s title passionately and made a point of giving back to the fans who missed their previous Premier League win due to Covid restrictions in 2020. He was emotional after scoring the winner at Leicester, a result that allowed Liverpool to lift the title when they thrashed Tottenham at Anfield.

It meant Alexander-Arnold will depart Liverpool as a two-time Premier League champion, a Champions League winner, along with the FA Cup, two Carabao Cups, the Club World Cup, the Uefa Super Cup and the Community Shield. With Liverpool, he had completed the set of major honours before turning 24.

“This is easily the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life,” he wrote in an accompanying post.

“I know many of you have wondered why or been frustrated that I haven’t spoken about this yet, but it was always my intention to keep my full focus on the team’s best interests, which was securing No.20.

“This club has been my whole life – my whole world - for 20 years. From the Academy right through until now, the support and love I have felt from everyone inside and outside of the club will stay with me forever. I will forever be in debt to you all.

“But, I have never known anything else and this decision is about experiencing a new challenge, taking myself out of my comfort zone and pushing myself both professionally and personally.

“From the bottom of my heart, I thank everybody – my coaches, my managers, my teammates, the staff and our incredible supporters - for the last 20 years. I’ve been blessed enough to live out my dreams here and I will never, ever take for granted the special moments I’ve been fortunate enough to have lived through with you all. My love for this club will never die.”

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The right-back has won every major honour with his boyhood club (Getty Images)

In a separate message posted to Liverpool FC social media, the 26-year-old reiterated his appreciation for the fans and the difficulty of making his decision.

“I want to say it’s not an easy decision and there’s a lot of thought and feeling that has gone into it,” he said. “I just hope that everyone’s able to maybe not dwell on this news for too long and be able to celebrate what the rest of the lads have done, and let everyone celebrate what we’ve achieved as a club.

“At the end of the day you can be angry and hurt at me, but I just hope that the lads, the rest of the team, the staff, everyone else is able to feel how good a season this has been and be able to feel the love and support from the fans, as they have done all season.”

Directly addressing the club’s fans, he said, “The main thing [I’d like to say] is a massive thank you. You guys have been there from the start for me, I’ve felt the support, the love, everything that you guys have done, it’s never been unnoticed by me. I hope they’ve felt that it’s been reciprocated.

“I’d love one day to bring my kids to Anfield and show them that that’s where I played and show them the videos and highlights of what we were able to achieve together.

“A huge thank you for that. Thank you for everything you’ve ever done for me, for always having my back.”

Alexander-Arnold made his breakthrough in the Liverpool team as a teenager under Jurgen Klopp and became the youngest player to start back-to-back Champions League finals as Liverpool won their sixth European crown by beating Tottenham in Madrid in 2019.

Alexander-Arnold played a key role in Liverpool’s memorable comeback against Barcelona in the semi-finals, setting up Divock Origi’s winner with his quickly taken corner in front of the Kop end. The moment became synonymous with Alexander-Arnold’s vision and ability to pick out passes from full back.

The following season, Alexander-Arnold set a Premier League record for assists as a defender, with 13, as Liverpool won their first league title in 30 years. He started another Champions League final, losing to Real Madrid in Paris in 2022, as Liverpool won the FA Cup and Carabao Cup that season and was made vice-captain in 2023.