Sport

Real Madrid may be impossible for Alexander-Arnold to resist.

Real Madrid are a club with pull like no other. It is so hard for any player to turn them down, and they invariably get their man whenever they come calling. Their interest must strike fear into the heart of rivals, and Liverpool are the latest club to face the prospect of losing a star player, as they set their sights on Trent Alexander-Arnold.

There are many reasons why Madrid are so effective in the market. The sheer size and history of the club are a huge factor; that white kit and the Santiago Bernabeu have a sort of magic about them, and there is a grandness attached with a club that became the favourite of the Spanish Royal family. But there is also a hard reality; they are the most successful team in the world and have
been more much of the last seventy years.

They’ve won 36 La Liga titles and 15 European Cups, including six in the last decade. To end your career with the most silverware, and by extension have the best chance to win the Ballon d’Or in the modern era, Madrid is usually the destination. Under president Florentino Perez, they have made no secret of their desire to sign the biggest stars in the world, and market themselves as the place to be for the elite. That’s why, if they want a player, it is unlikely they’ll not get them eventually.

Unfortunately for Liverpool, the situation with Alexander-Arnold is textbook. He has publicly said he wants to be the first fullback to win the Ballon d’Or, and with his contract running out at the end of this season, he is now free to speak to foreign clubs about his next move. Madrid’s interest in the player has gone back a long time, and although they went public with an approach this week, it is their presence and threat of a move which has been quite unsettling for Liverpool generally. It it beginning to feel inevitable that Alexander-Arnold will be a Madrid player next season, and the fact they made a move to sign him now when they could just wait is a perfect representation of their immense confidence.

The difficult thing for Madrid’s rivals is that they are not just the biggest and most successful club in football, but one of the shrewdest too. They have always managed to stay ahead of the curve; in the early days under Perez, they were the richest club, and nobody could match their transfer fees and wages. But the increased revenue in the Premier League and introduction of
state-owned clubs has changed that landscape.

Yet they’ve adjusted too. While they won’t bid for the most valuable players anymore, they look to sign the best young ones and develop them themselves. Vinicius Junior is arguably the best player in the world right now, and he joined them aged 16; it is a similar story with Jude Bellingham, though he joined from Borussia Dortmund first team ready, as did Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni. The next big projects are teenage Brazil striker Endrick and Turkey playmaker Arda Güler.

Alongside that, Madrid are utilising the contract situations of players to their advantage. They signed Antonio Rudiger on a free from Chelsea in 2021, and most notably brought Kylian Mbappe to the club after his deal with PSG expired. The Mbappe saga is another great example of the commitment and long-term planning Perez and Co put into their targets. It was an open secret for years he would move to the Spanish capital, and it is becoming increasingly similar with Alexander-Arnold.

The England defender is also close friends with Bellingham, which Liverpool fans once hoped could work in their favour in bringing him Anfield. Now it could work in the other direction.

There is still hope in keeping him; Alexander-Arnold is a Liverpool fan and grew up in the club’s academy. He is also, at the age of 26, the most valuable of the three out of contract players. Though Mohamed Salah is in the form of his life, and Virgil Van Dijk has been a generation-defining defender, both are over 30 and will only decline as the years go on. Liverpool will still hope they can find a solution, but Alexander-Arnold only signed a four-year contract before when he was offered six years. That gives an impression that having freedom to make his next move at his peak was always in his mind.

But Liverpool fans are already turning on him, which is unfair. Real Madrid’s offer is often irresistible, and both Michael Owen and Steve McManaman have made this exact move and done so with success. Yes, it may burn some bridges, but that experience is something he can’t be blamed for wanting.

He will stay at Liverpool until May at least and could well end his career there with another Premier League title. It may not be the end, but it feels like it will be.

If it is, Alexander-Arnold can’t be blamed for wanting to take this immense opportunity.