The day Liverpool fans have been dreading has finally arrived as Trent Alexaner-Arnold has announced he’s leaving Liverpool.
Alexander-Arnold’s future has been a huge talking point all season long, and now, the defender has announced that he will be leaving Anfield this summer.
Alexander-Arnold is set to sign for Real Madrid, and Liverpool are already being linked with new right-backs.
Speaking on the Kelly and Wrighty Show, Ian Wright has been discussing Alexander-Arnold’s situation, and he says that it’s completely unacceptable that Liverpool have allowed things to get to this point.
Ian Wright says Liverpool situation is unacceptable
Wright spoke about Alexander-Arnold’s departure from Liverpool.
The pundit says that the Reds needed to sort this situation out 18 months ago, claiming that this is a terrible look for the Merseyside club to be losing a player of this talent and age for free.
“You can’t look at this scenario and see how it’s got at this point. You have to look at the club and say 18 months ago they had to make that deal where they say ‘this is the best offer we can make, you will be the highest-paid player in the club’s history.’ And if he doesn’t do it, you need to sell him.
“From a business point of view, the club should not be losing a player like that for free, absolutely. Someone has taken their eye off the ball, for Liverpool it’s a terrible, terrible situation they find themselves in.
Biggest free agent mistakes in football history
Letting a talented player leave your club on a free transfer at the peak of their powers is always going to sting.
Indeed, we’ve seen this sort of situation play out on a number of occasions, and some very high-profile free agent mistakes have been made over the years.
| Biggest free agent mistakes in football history | Team left | Age at time | Team joined |
| Kylian Mbappe | PSG | 25 | Real Madrid |
| Robert Lewandowski | Borussia Dortmund | 25 | Bayern Munich |
| Paul Pogba | Man Utd | 19 | Juventus |
| Sol Campbell | Tottenham | 26 | Arsenal |
| Steve McManaman | Liverpool | 27 | Real Madrid |
Kylian Mbappe spoke to Liverpool at one point before moving to Real Madrid on a free transfer, while Sol Campbell was a Liverpool target too before his controversial move to Arsenal.
Robert Lewandowski is one of the best strikers of his generation, and he made a free transfer move in his pomp, while Manchester United seriously dropped the ball with Paul Pogba, so much so that they paid a world-record fee to re-sign him at one point.
As much as it must hurt Liverpool to lose Alexander-Arnold in this way, this isn’t an unprecedented situation.
