Trent Alexander-Arnold to Leave Liverpool at the End of the Season | OneFootball

It is, perhaps, the worst-kept secret in football, but the news has finally been confirmed that Trent Alexander-Arnold will be leaving Liverpool when this title-winning season has reached its conclusion, leaving Liverpool to look for a replacement – hopefully in ready made Connor Bradley.

It is fair to say that not everyone is delighted about Trent’s decision, given the fact that he is not only leaving Anfield for no money as his contract runs out in the summer, but it’s also heading to a direct rival in Real Madrid.

The Spanish side want the player so much that they’re not willing to pay anything for him, with the player loving Liverpool so much that he’s leaving for zero fee.

What Trent Achieved at Liverpool

The simple truth of the matter is that Trent Alexander-Arnold is probably the best right-back ever to play for Liverpool. Yes, there are plenty of others who achieved great things whilst wearing the famous Red, but Trent was a playmaker from the position, posting the same kind of numbers that Kevin De Bruyne did for Manchester City whilst being one of their most attacking players.

The ‘Trent can’t defend’ argument was always overblown, given the fact that the Liverpool number 66 won everything that there was to win whilst playing for Liverpool and you don’t do that if you ‘can’t defend’.

His professional debut came on the 25th of October 2016 in a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup, which also led to him earning a new long-term contract with the Reds. Such was Jürgen Klopp’s faith in him that he was thrown into the starting XI for a match against Manchester United at Old Trafford at the start of 2017.

It was the beginning of a brilliant Liverpool career, during which the right-back won two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and League Cup winners’ medal, the Champions League and both the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, as well as missing out on a further two Champions League titles.

Why He’s Leaving

One of the main questions that many people will ask regarding Trent is why he has chosen to leave Liverpool. The Kop has regaled him with his song countless times, declaring him to be ‘the Scouser in our team’, so it doesn’t make a huge amount of sense to many why it is that a young lad from the local area would turn down the opportunity to become the captain of his boyhood club.

As the current vice-captain, it was all but predetermined that the captaincy is a role that he would take on, yet he has decided to depart Anfield for the Bernabéu in a move that simply doesn’t make a lot of sense.

The player himself recorded a video message for Liverpool supporters in which he declared his desire to endure ‘new challenges’, which he believes he will get from a move to Spain. There is also the fact that one of his best friends, Jude Bellingham, is a current player for the Spanish giants, so it is a chance for the two of them to play together moving forward.

In reality, though, it is almost certainly down to the fact that he believes that he will win more trophies with Real, to say nothing of the fact that he is positioning himself to be able to win a Ballon d’Or in the future, which he’s more likely to do there than with Liverpool.

Will He Ever Come Back to Liverpool?

He hasn’t even officially left the club yet, but many are wondering if the right-back is likely to return at some point in the future. The obvious comparison is to Ian Rush, who left to play for Juventus in 1986 before re-signing for the Reds two years later. Is it possible that the same sort of thing might happen with Trent?

It is impossible to rule out, of course, but the rumours are that he is going to sign a six-year contract with Real Madrid and it is difficult to see a world in which Liverpool will be willing to pay a fee to bring him back given the fact that they’re not receiving one for his departure in the summer.



A better comparison is likely to be that of Steve McManaman, who made the exact same move in 1999 and spent four years at the Bernabéu before ending his career as a Manchester City player. Michael Owen also left Merseyside for Madrid in 2004 and lasted just one season there, missing out on winning the European Cup with Liverpool.

Owen attempted to engineer a move back to Anfield before eventually signing for Newcastle United and ended his career as a Manchester United player. It is much more likely that Alexander-Arnold will follow a similar path, never again having the love of supporters who used to worship him.