Trent Alexander-Arnold looks set to make the switch from the Premier League to La Liga this summer, but former Liverpool and Real Madrid striker Fernando Morientes says the two clubs are on the same level.
Booed by some fans against Arsenal last weekend, Alexander-Arnold’s contract is set to expire at the end of the campaign. And last week, he outlined the reasons for wanting to leave Liverpool.
The Liverpool number 66 explained that he wants to try something new having been playing on Merseyside for two decades. But Morientes has insisted that he won’t be taking a step up in terms of his next club.
“I think I’d put them on the same level,” Morientes said. “When I had the opportunity to decide to leave Real Madrid, when the option to join Liverpool came up, I put them on the same level.
“I mean, what team in the world can be compared to Real Madrid historically? In terms of history, in terms of titles. Honestly, Liverpool don’t have 15 Champions League titles, but they have the Premier League, they have history.
“Great English players have played for Liverpool. They have the respect of everyone in football as one of the great teams in the world.
(Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
“I think there are times when we try to put each team or each player on a different level, and it’s true that history defines that. Liverpool’s history tells us it’s on par with Real Madrid.”
Alexander-Arnold was not thinking that Liverpool was unable to compete at the top, though, when he made his decision. Instead, he just wanted the one thing that the Reds couldn’t offer: something different, and new.
“Probably for me, and for many people, Real Madrid is the best club in the world,” Morientes, who was speaking to Casino Hawks, continued. “UEFA said so, naming them the best club of the 20th century.
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“But these things are won on the pitch, and history is made with titles, and with players. It’s true that Real Madrid has shown throughout its history that, if not the best, then one of the best.
“Liverpool, in terms of history, the players who have had the opportunity to go to Liverpool, we immediately know we were joining a historically very powerful team, and if not the first, then in that echelon of world football’s greats.”
Liverpool.com says: Alexander-Arnold made clear when he was leaving that he didn’t feel Real Madrid was a step up, but simply a change of scenery after so long on Merseyside.
His move there is about getting a new experience under his belt, he has insisted, and nothing else. There is no reason not to believe that is the case, though people are entitled to think that he should have stayed with his boyhood club having made clear how much he loves living the dream of plenty of Scousers.
