Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to join Real Madrid in the summer transfer window, despite Liverpool making frequent attempts to hand him a new contract throughout this season
Liverpool were desperate to keep hold of Trent Alexander-Arnold and rejected a £21million bid from Real Madrid during their final push to get him to sign a new contract. Alexander-Arnold, 26, has decided to join the Spanish giants on a free transfer this summer after his current deal expires on June 30.
It’s understood that Real are putting the final touches on their contract offer which the Liverpool star is expected to sign. Alexander-Arnold’s future has been a major talking point in the Reds’ season alongside that of fellow out-of-contract stars Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk.
His future was thrust into the spotlight in late December, as Madrid chiefs made a formal approach through their good relationship with Liverpool. Carlo Ancelotti was hoping to bring Alexander-Arnold in after right-back Dani Carvajal suffered a cruciate ligament injury in October.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reports that Real’s offer was worth €25m (£21m) but Liverpool flatly rejected it. The Reds didn’t want to lose Alexander-Arnold mid-season, with the possibility of an unprecedented treble still alive.
Liverpool are said to have made multiple attempts to get the 26-year-old to renew his contract, with negotiations over a new long-term deal starting in October and continuing until January. But Anfield chiefs are now resigned to the fact that he wants to move to Madrid and join the 15-time Champions League winners.
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Arne Slot isn’t expected to speak publicly about Alexander-Arnold’s future until next Tuesday when he’ll preview the Merseyside derby. The England international is currently injured, so the visit of Everton on Wednesday might come too soon.
Alexander-Arnold will likely be in for a frosty reception the next time he steps out at Anfield, with Liverpool fans unhappy about the nature of his departure. His refusal to sign a new contract means that he’ll be walking out of his boyhood club on a free transfer, although that doesn’t upset Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher.
“I’m not angry about him going on a free,” Carragher said, speaking on the Stick to Football podcast. “In an ideal world, Liverpool would get £70m or £80m for him to reinvest, but you can’t have it both ways as a supporter. If Liverpool sign someone on a free in the summer, we’d all be delighted, so does that mean that his former club should absolutely hate him?
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“Also, when you’re a local player you don’t cost anything – Trent going on a free is like Virgil van Dijk leaving for £75m, we’d still break even.”
Carragher did, however, warn the right-back about the kind of reception he could face. “It will taint his legacy in some people’s eyes,” he continued to Sky Sports. “When you think of players that played their whole career at the club and turned down opportunities to go elsewhere, that makes you, in the supporters’ eyes, one of them.
“The heat will come on Trent between now and the end of the season, and maybe for the next year or so when he’s in Madrid, but I am really appreciative of what Trent has done for Liverpool.”
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