Soccer fans have been flocking back to Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s first Instagram post after it emerged that the Liverpool right-back is set to join Real Madrid at the end of the season.
That’s because, weirdly, the first photo Alexander-Arnold ever shared on Instagram was of him at the Bernabeu, training alongside Rickie Lambert and Raheem Sterling ahead of a Champions League match between Madrid and Liverpool in 2014; Alexander-Arnold had turned 16 years old just a few weeks earlier.
Of course, Alexander-Arnold didn’t play in the game, which was settled by a single Karim Benzema strike, but there is a certain irony to that image being the first one the England international shared on Instagram and him being set to sign for the club 11 years later.
Alexander-Arnold is set to pen a five-year contract worth more than $280,000 per week in the Spanish capital, while he will also receive an eight-figure signing-on fee which will be spread over the length of the deal.
Madrid is keen to register Alexander-Arnold in time for for the start of this summer’s revamped Club World Cup. A new 32-team version of the competition will take place between June 15 and July 13, with Madrid among the favorites to lift the trophy.
As it stands, Alexander-Arnold will still be contracted to Liverpool by that point, but Madrid is keen to free Alexander-Arnold from his Liverpool contract at the start of June.
FIFA announced last year that that its member associations which have clubs competing in the Club World Cup (for example, the Spanish Football Association for Real Madrid, or the English Football Association for Manchester City) will have the option to open an exceptional registration window from June 1 to June 10.
As things stand, the Premier League’s summer transfer window will open on June 12, while La Liga’s summer transfer window will open on July 1. However, if both the Premier League and La Liga decide to take advantage of the opportunity to open an exceptional registration window for a 10-day period at the beginning of June, and Madrid and Liverpool can reach an agreement, Alexander-Arnold could join the Spanish club in time for the start of the Club World Cup.
If an agreement is not reached, Alexander-Arnold will be free to join Madrid from July 1, at which point the Spanish club could add him to its squad for the knockout stage of the competition. If Madrid wins its group, which includes Al-Hilal, Pachuca and Red Bull Salzburg, it will play its first knockout game on July 1, which Alexander-Arnold would theoretically be eligible to play in.
