Former England stalwart Gary Lineker has called on Liverpool fans to give Trent Alexander-Arnold a “really good send off” at the end of the season – if he is to depart for Real Madrid.
The 26-year-old right-back’s Anfield future remains unresolved, with speculation having abounded in recent months that he could be heading for a switch to Los Blancos. What is for certain is the Reds academy product will be free to depart Merseyside as a free agent at the end of the campaign, as things stand.
Alexander-Arnold has entered the final months of his current contract with the club, with TalkSport having reported that the defender has agreed to move to Madrid. Having joined Liverpool at the age of just six, a move to the Spanish capital would end the homegrown player’s 20-year association with his boyhood club.
It now remains to be seen whether the full-back will join the 15-time European Champions in the coming months. Giving his verdict on the prospect of the Kop hero heading to Santiago Bernabeu, Match of the Day host Lineker said: “It looks like it might happen, but it’s not, we’re not sure yet.
“There’s obviously been an approach and he’s had a bit of stick from Liverpool fans and stuff. And it’s, I don’t mind saying, I think it would be an absolutely fabulous move for him,” he told the rest of the ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast panel. “I think to play for Real Madrid is something that is very difficult to turn down.”
Giving his perspective on what Alexander-Arnold may be thinking as he weighs up his long-term future, the ex-Barcelona forward continued: “He’s been at Liverpool since he was a kid. It transcends him into a kind of another level when you’re playing for a club like that.
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“I think it will be absolutely brilliant for him. He’s their sort of player because they like to see beautiful football and attacking football. He’s one of the best passes of the ball in the world’s game.”
For Lineker, the chance to play in a new country and experience a fresh culture may be attractive to the Reds ace. He asserted: “We tend to focus in this country a little bit on the negative or the kind of weakness in a player’s game. Whereas over there, from my experience, they generally just focus on what you’re good at. So I think that will probably go away.
“I think it’s got to the stage now with the defending aspect of it, where if a winger goes past him, he gets stick. Now wingers go past full backs all the time, but nobody ever says anything. Now I know he’s not a great defender, but you can’t be great at everything.”
Either way, the former Everton and Tottenham forward is of the belief that Alexander Arnold is deserving of a fond send-off from Liverpool fans if he is to depart. He added: “So it will be fascinating to see if it happens.
“I suspect it probably will. And I hope the Liverpool fans give him a really good send off, because I think for what he’s done for the club, he deserves it.”
