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Hello! Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to sign a deal with Real Madrid. Hopefully, his signature is more legit than the Lionel Messi autograph we’re writing about today.
A ‘signed’ Lionel Messi Topps card (Nick Bruce)
On the way:
Trent’s Real Deal 🤝: Madrid close to signing Alexander-Arnold on a free transfer
Trent Alexander-Arnold could be on the move to Real Madrid (Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
Most quality transfer exclusives fall into two categories: those that hedge their bets because too much is up in the air, and those that confidently indicate where the winds are blowing.
When I saw David Ornstein write yesterday that Real Madrid were “working to close a deal to sign Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold”, I took it to mean that the Spanish side were backing themselves, that they are actively in control of the process, with Alexander-Arnold’s blessing.
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We, like Liverpool’s fanbase, have been waiting for a waft of white smoke from Alexander-Arnold’s camp because the will-he-won’t-he frenzy around him has been churning for ages. Madrid’s intentions are an open secret. They had a go, rather cheekily, at buying him in January. His contract at Anfield is virtually up — and Liverpool haven’t tempted him to bite down on an extension.
The appeal of the Bernabeu speaks for itself, even if Liverpool are the sort of club you don’t abandon on a whim. But financially, Alexander-Arnold moving there as a free agent would be exceptionally lucrative for him — signing-on-fee heaven — and highly cost-effective for Madrid. A 26-year-old of his talent and pedigree should never command no fee.
Just to be sure I was reading between the lines correctly, I asked Orny how he saw this panning out.
“For the first time, the direction of travel is very clear,” he said. “Until it’s signed and the ink is dry, things can change. However, the likelihood is that he will be a Real Madrid player. We’ve not been able to say that in a concrete manner — until now.”
His update made me think of the podcast we recorded last week, plotting Liverpool’s potentially complicated summer ahead. Losing Alexander-Arnold would rob them of a world-class full-back, yes. But their squad management is far more complicated than that, and concerns so much more than him.
Summer of change is coming at Liverpool
It’s well publicised that Liverpool could lose their Holy Trinity in a couple of months: Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk. All three are in an identical state of contractual decline, the downside of Jurgen Klopp’s inheritance to Arne Slot (above with Alexander-Arnold).
And here’s the thing: if they depart, there are three yawning gaps to fill (minus incoming transfer cash for any of them) before Liverpool do anything else. We know they want a centre-forward. Unless money was no object last summer — don’t all laugh at once — then their dabble with Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi tells us they want a central midfielder, too.
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Liverpool’s owner, Fenway Sports Group, is not a big spender, or not an aggressive net spender. According to this piece by our new financial expert Chris Weatherspoon, the club’s net transfer spend for 2024-25 was £100,000 ($130,000), which wouldn’t pay Salah for a week.
Future-proofing Slot’s squad won’t be simple or cheap. It might take a change of policy at boardroom level. And as the Premier League title beckons at the end of year one in England, there’s no shaking the feeling that, conversely, Slot’s second season at Anfield could be more taxing than his first.
A Truly Messi Signature? ✍️
Any purchase of autographed memorabilia requires an ounce of trust, unless the sports star is wielding a pen in front of you. Even in the most official circles, there’s the fractional chance that the signature isn’t legit.
The thought didn’t enter Nick Bruce’s head when he pulled a signed Lionel Messi trading card out of a pack of the 2021-22 Topps UEFA Champions League Finest Flashbacks range. Only 10 were ever manufactured, giving each an estimated value of more than $1,000.
But when he sent it off to a leading authenticator, he was shocked to be told that the autograph might not have been the work of Messi’s hand. “Nick, this card (signature) is fake,” he was told. You can judge for yourself using the image at the top of this section — a 100 per cent verified Messi scrawl on the left, the disputed card Nick acquired on the right.
There’s no suggestion of fraud, and claims that Messi’s brother might have signed it for him are unsubstantiated. Neither Messi nor his club, Inter Miami, responded to requests for comment from The Athletic. But two other cards like Nick’s are now being re-examined for authenticity, and Larry Holder’s deep dive on a controversial story makes uncomfortable reading for the industry.
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Nick doesn’t seem bothered about the money — $1,000 wasn’t going to change his life — but since Topps claims it witnesses all autographs for the sake of authenticity, his experience speaks to something collectible enthusiasts should be asking: are all of these superstar signatures everything that they seem?
News Round-Up 🗞️
- A grim blow for Bayern Munich before the Champions League’s last eight: it’s been confirmed this morning that Alphonso Davies tore his ACL during Canada’s Concacaf Nations League win against the USMNT. This has major implications for Jesse Marsch’s World Cup preparations too.
- Real Madrid are on the verge of extending defender Raul Asencio’s contract to 2029. It will include a release clause set at over £80m. He and three other men remain under investigation in Spain for allegedly sharing a sex tape.
- Joey Barton, the ex-England and Manchester City midfielder, has been given a suspended 12-week prison sentence after being found guilty of assaulting his wife. Barton, 42, was accused of kicking his partner, Georgia, in the head during a drunken row in 2021.
- Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter and one-time UEFA president Michel Platini were cleared of financial wrongdoing by a Swiss appeals court yesterday. A previous ruling exonerating them in a case that involved a payment of £1.7m had been challenged by the authorities in Switzerland.
- Aston Villa defender Tyrone Mings is set to be named on the board of directors for Euro 2028, which will be staged in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. This vindicates the view of ex-Chelsea defender Paul Elliott, who told me in 2023 that Mings had executive credentials.
- Do you remember the debacle of the Boston NWSL expansion franchise calling themselves BOS Nation FC, only to abandon the name amid much ridicule? Keep your eyes peeled today because a rebrand is coming.
- Most clicked in yesterday’s TAFC: for the second day running, Jesse Marsch wading into politics.
Brazil Can’t Keep Up 🤦
(Premier Sports)
Argentina thrash rivals, qualify for World Cup
I’m not saying it went badly for Brazil last night but at 4-1 down to Argentina late on, Emiliano Martinez started doing keepy-uppies in his own box (above), the definition of six-feet-under.
Granted, Martinez trolls at the drop of a hat but Brazilian fear of a chasing in Buenos Aires was prescient, and Argentina’s goalkeeper rubbed it in. Brazil conceded after four minutes to Julian Alvarez. Their defence leaked like a White House WhatsApp group. Back home, there’ll be hell to pay.
Argentina’s World Cup qualification is now confirmed, ensuring they’ll defend the trophy they won in Qatar. Brazil will follow at some stage, but with no sparkle.
Romario, a winner in 1994 with Brazil, thinks it’s on Neymar to make something happen for them next summer. It would probably get no worse if they took Romario himself.
Two other notes from yesterday’s internationals:
- The belief that Erling Haaland and Martin Odegaard can earn Norway a rare World Cup outing is bearing fruit. Two qualifiers in, they’ve got six points, Haaland has two goals and Odegaard has four assists. June’s clash with Italy in Oslo is a biggie.
- Alexander Isak continues to smash it at all levels. His strike in Sweden’s 5-1 rout of Northern Ireland (below) is as clean a hit as you’ll find. Up goes his value, again
(X/@BBCSportNI)
Catch A Match 📺
(Kick-offs ET/UK time, both DAZN/TNT Sports, or DAZN YouTube)
Women’s Champions League, quarter-final second leg: Lyon (2) vs Bayern Munich (0), 1.45pm/5.45pm; Arsenal (0) vs Real Madrid (2), 4pm/8pm.
And Finally…
As paid-up members of the Uzbekistan appreciation society for, er, the past 24 hours, their national side had TAFC climbing the walls yesterday.
First, Mehdi Taremi’s 83rd-minute equaliser (above) denied them a 2-1 win in Iran — a result that would have effectively sealed their first World Cup appearance.
Two hours later, the United Arab Emirates scored a 98th-minute winner against North Korea in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (a real treat for the neutrals), which means the Uzbeks’ World Cup hopes could come down to a showdown with the UAE in June.
The moral of the story is never discount the Iranians or Taremi, a one-goal-in-two-games man at international level. The Inter striker’s searing volley means it’s, ‘North America, f*** yeah!’ for Iran, their fourth World Cup in a row — and a nervy road ahead for Uzbekistan.
