LIVERPOOL, England — As Trent Alexander-Arnold held his arms aloft and soaked up the ovation from the Anfield crowd after his Liverpool side had clinched the Premier League title with a 5-1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday, a jubilant Kop crowed: “He’s Alexander-Arnold, the Scouser in our team.”
It has been a familiar refrain on Merseyside since the 26-year-old right-back made his first-team debut in 2016, underscoring his rise from academy graduate to Premier League star. But, now that Alexander-Arnold has announced he will leave Liverpool when his contract expires at the end of the season, the song may well have had its final airing at Anfield.
“Giving everything day in, day out for 20 years, I’ve got to a point now where I feel like I need a new change, a new challenge for me as a player and as a person,” Alexander-Arnold revealed in a social media post on Monday. “And I think now is the right time for me to do that.”
While a deal has not yet been finalised, that new challenge will surely take Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid, with sources having told ESPN in March that senior figures at the Bernabéu were “very optimistic” of signing the England international on a free transfer.
The timing of those reports from the Spanish capital aligned with a breakdown in contract talks at Anfield, with sources telling ESPN that — after months of negotiations with sporting director Richard Hughes — Alexander-Arnold rejected new terms that would have made him one of the best-paid full-backs in the world.
Alexander-Arnold’s decision to leave was not fueled by financial incentives, but by a desire to try something new. Considering the defender joined Liverpool’s academy at the age of six and has won everything there is to win at Anfield — two Premier League titles (2020 and 2025), a single FA Cup, EFL Cup and Community Shield (all 2022), and one UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup (all 2019) — there is logic behind his longing for a change of scenery.
