Trent Alexander-Arnold has gone from Anfield hero to Kop rival

Telegraph

05-05-2025

At the peak of my career 20 years ago, I was interviewed by future Sky Sports colleague Geoff Shreeves when he suggested that it might be time to think about moving to a 'bigger' club.
'Who's bigger than Liverpool?' I replied.
Geoff sounded surprised by my response.
'Bigger [as in] more money? I'm not having that,' I continued. 'If we get it right at this club we will be right back up there.'
When giving that answer to Geoff, it was not meant to sound big-headed. There were no offers for me as there were for Steven Gerrard or Michael Owen. The point then, as it is today, is once you are a mainstay at a club of Liverpool 's stature you are already at the summit of the game. As a Scouser, for me it does not get any bigger or better.
Add in the fact that Liverpool have 'got it right' since those remarks were made – major trophies won and the promise of more to come – and that is why supporters find it difficult to accept Trent Alexander-Arnold's decision to join Real Madrid.
The leaving of Liverpool is not easy, and nor should it be.
We all know there is a football pyramid, and the prestige of Real Madrid and Barcelona has put them at the tip of it for a long time. Then you have the group of multiple European Cup winners just below including AC Milan, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Manchester United, constantly jockeying for position, suffering their highs and lows but always a pull for the top players and managers.
Those footballers who are good enough to have established themselves as icons at those historic clubs might believe there is only one small step left to take to get to the biggest in the world, but making that next move is still risky.
What is gained in the short-term can be sacrificed in terms of a legacy once a career is over, and although it might sound like a cliché to say you are 'part of family' once you are loved by the fans of the biggest, most storied clubs, it is true.
There are many examples of truly great players who gave stellar service everywhere they went but no longer feel emotionally attached to anyone. It is not necessarily right or fair. It is just how it is, because supporters will differentiate between those perceived to be putting the club first in the ongoing fight to take on the superpower of Real Madrid, and those who were accused of thinking about their own career.
Owen is the obvious one. His relationship with the Kop fractured after he left Anfield. Paul Ince was another when he left Manchester United. Was Ince as big an influence on the rise of United under Sir Alex Ferguson as Roy Keane? I would argue yes. They were both brilliant midfielders, but only one is seen as 'Mr Manchester United'.
If you think about Gary Lineker, you remember the England legend rather than one of the greatest, most-loved players at the top clubs he played for like Everton, Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur.
As I wrote on this subject last December, it is even harder for the home-grown stars.
Real are one of only two clubs to have won more European Cups than Liverpool, so when a top-class academy player makes this kind of a move, there is a simmering resentment from the local fanbase that they are trying to separate themselves from 'their own', or think there is something bigger or better out there for them.
You can call that unfair, naive or even deluded all you like. In trying to explain how it is, people jump on me and tell me it is wrong to think that way, and Alexander-Arnold should be wished well on his new adventure.
Liverpool fans are being told their reaction to Alexander-Arnold leaving is emotional more than sensible.
My response to that is who is really the naive and deluded one when analysing how fans feel about such transfers?
Would Manchester United have been happy to see Ryan Giggs or Paul Scholes leave in their prime for Real Madrid? Would Chelsea have wished John Terry all the best had he followed Jose Mourinho to Spain for nothing? How would Arsenal fans feel if Bukayo Saka said he wants to fulfil a lifetime ambition to wear the white shirt in the Bernabeu?
'Those lads would never do that,' is the predictable response.
But isn't that the point? Players are loved even more when they genuinely mean it when they say they do not want to play for anyone else. If that image of the home-grown talent living the dream is an illusion, people feel let down.
Giggs and Scholes will always be adored at United as the 'Class of '92' members who never gave any thought to leaving, while David Beckham is looked upon as someone who had a career plan and was brilliant enough to follow it.
There is no right or wrong to that. Different players have different characteristics and ambitions. Liverpool fans did not think Alexander-Arnold saw his path in the same way as Owen and Beckham because he said his dream was to captain the club and follow his hero Gerrard.
Fans are obviously going to be upset.
Liverpool are in the business of winning more Premier League and Champions League titles. Anything which undermines that is a threat. You may not agree, or believe that competitive attitude to the loss of a star player is justified, but it is what makes Liverpool the successful club it is, and it is no different than what you would expect at Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona or Manchester United.
By leaving Liverpool, Alexander-Arnold is making it harder for his own club to win its 21st league title and seventh European Cup. That is bound to stir emotions.
As a Champions League and double Premier League winner, Alexander-Arnold will always be an Anfield legend. His corner taken quickly against Barcelona in the 2019 Champions League semi-final can no more be airbrushed from history than Owen's two goals versus Arsenal in the 2001 FA Cup final. His contribution will never be diminished.
I love seeing a Liverpool-born lad doing so well he will play for Real Madrid. Part of me thinks 'well done' but the competitive element in me also thinks swapping Liverpool red for Real Madrid white means he has chosen to become a rival. It means the next time he is at Anfield he will receive the same treatment as Luis Suarez when he returned to Merseyside in a Barcelona shirt.
With Monday's statement, the unconditional support Alexander-Arnold enjoyed from the Kop when he was fully committed to Liverpool has gone.
It has to be this way at the biggest clubs.