Ex-Everton manager Sam Allardyce has bizarrely suggested that Liverpool fans will be “pleased” to see Trent Alexander-Arnold make a switch to Real Madrid, despite the player having been booed at Anfield on Sunday.
Last week, Alexander-Arnold announced his decision to depart from Anfield upon the expiry of his contract come the season’s end, with the Bernabeu set to be his next port of call. Some supporters jeered the Liverpool number 66 before, during and after the 2-2 draw with Arsenal in the first match after he explained why he would be leaving.
Nevertheless, Allardyce reckons that a vast majority of Reds aficionados would actually welcome his move overseas. He feels that Liverpool fans will be wishing the departing player well.
“I’m sure 95 per cent of Liverpool fans will have appreciated what Trent has done, with him being there from being a kid and coming up through the ranks, and what he’s won with them,” the one-game former England manager said.
“They’ll be sad he’s leaving but pleased he’s going to Real Madrid. The booing is not good, is it? It’s not like he’s just going for the money.
“The money will probably be much bigger than Liverpool’s, but it’s the club. That club has won more Champions Leagues than anybody else. It’s difficult to surpass Real Madrid as the biggest club in Europe.
(Image: Stu Forster/Getty Images)
“It’d be better if everyone ignored (the booing) and went on the fact that Liverpool have won the league.”
Speaking on the Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Sam Allardyce also shared his thoughts on the heightened pressure Trent Alexander-Arnold would face at Real Madrid, drawing from a conversation with his former Bolton Wanderers player Fernando Hierro, who spent 15 years at the club.
“If he (Alexander-Arnold) thinks there’s pressure at Liverpool, wait for the white flags at Real Madrid,” Allardyce remarked.
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“Fernando Hierro had 10 years as captain at Real Madrid, and he’d express to me what it’s like to play in that stadium and how big the pressure really is.
“But I wish Trent all the best, he seems like a great lad, and I hope he enjoys his football in Spain. But if I were to give him one tip, [it would be to] learn the language.
“To be really accepted, if you can learn Spanish as quick as you possibly can. He should start now.”
Liverpool.com says: Alexander-Arnold being booed quite so loudly was a surprise at the weekend but he will have expected a negative reaction to some extent. The player is not naive enough to think that Liverpool fans would welcome him leaving, but he has made his decision and he wants to try something new.
