Despite the club’s best attempts to convince Trent Alexander-Arnold to stay, it seems as if the Liverpool defender will make the switch to Real Madrid this summer.
Alexander-Arnold will follow in Steve McManaman’s footsteps and switch Liverpool for Madrid, where he’ll link up with the likes of Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappe.
Perhaps had Liverpool had it their way in recent years, Alexander-Arnold would now be playing with Bellingham at Anfield instead of potentially joining him in the Spanish capital.
Liverpool wanted to sign Bellingham before he switched Borussia Dortmund for Real – a player Jurgen Klopp was seemingly very keen on.
But it was not to be and the Englishman will now welcome his compatriot to Spain, much to Liverpool’s frustration.
Alan Shearer can’t understand the criticism of Trent Alexander-Arnold
That being said, Alan Shearer had a point to make about the whole saga when speaking on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast.
Shearer admitted that he couldn’t understand the criticism that Alexander-Arnold was facing – concluding that his decision should be respected either way.
Shearer said: “I don’t get the criticism. I mean, he’s entitled to do whatever he wants. He’s given that football club absolutely everything.
“Yes, he’s on a good salary, but he’s won everything and if he wants to challenge himself by going abroad and playing for Real Madrid, then so be it. They turned a bid down for him in January, so they could have made money on him.
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“He’s played, I don’t know, what, 350 games ish, and he’s always given his best. They should give him a great send off.
“And sometimes as a player, you know, when the Liverpool fans will say, well, oh, he should have come out and should have said something.
“Well, no, because why should he have to come out? And he’s entitled to say nothing. Oh, and he doesn’t have to tell the story of what’s gone on or what hasn’t gone on.
“He’s an individual who has worked his socks off and won everything. And Liverpool will get over it like they always do. They always have had great players and great players have left.
“Great players have also come back in and Liverpool will always be the same, and they should give him a great send off.
“If he wants to do that, then good on him.”
Five players who left Liverpool for Real Madrid
Of course, McManaman and perhaps now Alexander-Arnold aren’t the only players who have swapped Merseyside for Madrid in recent times.
All of Michael Owen, Xabi Alonso, Jerzy Dudek and Alvaro Arbeola have also trodden that path to mixed success.
Perhaps Alonso enjoyed the most success of the names listed, even if the likes of Dudek and Arbeola picked up a lot of medals too.
Although it is most pertinent to compare Alexander-Arnold’s situation to McManaman and Owen in reality, given they were also homegrown players at Liverpool.
But ultimately it seems as if Real Madrid have convinced Alexander-Arnold, and there’s now very little that Richard Huges and his team can do.
