Trent Alexander-Arnold went down well with the local press and Real Madrid fans on Thursday, as he was presented as their new signing, and their second of the summer. The 26-year-old joins Los Blancos from Liverpool for €10m, just a month before the end of his contract, and will begin training tomorrow.
It was revealed that he will wear the name ‘Trent’ on the back of his shirt, with the number 12. He explained it as a way of making things more simple, and impressed the Bernabeu auditiorium by speaking in close to perfect Spanish, saying that it was a dream come true to sign for the club.
Jude Bellingham role in decision
In the lead up to the deal, it was reported that England teammate Jude Bellingham had been trying to persuade Alexander-Arnold to join the club. He backed away from the idea that it had played a role in his thinking.
“Yeah we spoke, but it wasn’t exactly what a lot of people think it is. We spoke a lot about Liverpool and Madrid, those are the conversations you have as players, as friends, you want to know what it’s like of course as a player. In the England team, he was the only one who did know. A lot of people feel he had a big role in it, but the club speaks for itself.”
Decision to leave Liverpool
Back at Anfield, Alexander-Arnold’s decision was not taken well by many. After saying that he had been looking forward to this day for a long time, he nuanced it by saying ‘or rather two weeks’, but did admit to learning Spanish for several months. Alexander-Arnold explained how he came to the decision.
“Being at Liverpool for so long, experiencing everything I did, and knowing that it was coming to an end was always going to be emotional for me. But going out in the way I did, I’m happy about it, the send off I got. The way the club treated me, the way fans treated me, I couldn’t say a bad word. Also the players, the management, the owners, incredible as well. It was a huge help, I had a conversation with the owners in the last few days, they were warm and welcoming, wished me the best on my new journey. To have those words from the club, meant a lot to me.”
“I achieved all my dreams, Liverpool allowed me to do everything I ever wanted. Being there for 20 years, I feel like it was the right moment for me. I feel like I’ve matured, and have the tools to go and be successful somewhere else. This opportunity came up, and I had to seriously think about it, and this is the decision I came to. I think it’s the right one.”
Real Madrid were the only club he would have joined
Their new right-back explained that he did not think twice about going somewhere else, but the big question was whether to leave or not.
“To be honest, it was never a question of where. It was whether to go or not. I think for me, I’ve known for a long time, if I was to leave Liverpool, it would only be to Real Madrid. Making that decision, it was not an easy one, I’d been there so long, and been part of it, eventually you have to make a decision. In my mind I’ve made the right one, and I’m very excited about it.”
