Alexander-Arnold to join Real Madrid after Liverpool exit confirmed by the player himself after winning the league.
Alexander-Arnold confirms Liverpool exit and set to join Real Madrid.
After Liverpool failed to persuade the homegrown star to prolong his wildly successful career at Anfield, the 26-year-old is expected to sign a free agency contract with Real Madrid. According to reports, Alexander-Arnold was offered a new contract by Liverpool that would have made him the top paid full-back in the Premier League and among the most paid full-backs worldwide.
Although Richard Hughes initially contacted the player’s representatives prior to formally beginning his role as Liverpool’s new sports director, formal negotiations with the player’s representatives began last year after Arne Slot was confirmed as Jürgen Klopp’s successor.
But unlike Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, Alexander-Arnold was unable to sign a new contract with Liverpool, and he told Slot a few weeks ago that he was leaving.
“After 20 years at Liverpool Football Club, now is the time for me to confirm that I will be leaving at the end of the season,” Alexander-Arnold announced on his social media channels this morning. “This is easily the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life. I know many of you have wondered why or been frustrated that I haven’t spoken about this yet, but it was always my intention to keep my full focus on the team’s best interests, which was securing number 20.
“This club has been my whole life – my whole world – for 20 years. From the academy right through until now, the support and love I have felt from everyone inside and outside of the club will stay with me forever. I will forever be in debt to you all. But, I have never known anything else and this decision is about experiencing a new challenge, taking myself out of my comfort zone and pushing myself both professionally and personally.
“I’ve given my all every single day I’ve been at this club, and I hope you feel like I’ve given back to you during my time here. From the bottom of my heart, I thank everybody – my coaches, my managers, my teammates, the staff and our incredible supporters – for the last 20 years. I’ve been blessed enough to live out my dreams here and I will never, ever take for granted the special moments I’ve been fortunate enough to have lived through with you all. My love for this club will never die.”
He has now made 352 appearances for the team he grew up with, scoring 23 goals and taking home eight major awards, including two Premier League crowns and the Champions League.
The feeling that Alexander-Arnold was destined to join the Spanish powerhouses only grew after they launched a £20 million approach for the player on New Year’s Eve, which Liverpool promptly turned down. The teenager has long been linked to a move to Madrid.