On Friday what was known by all was made public by Real Madrid: Trent Alexander-Arnold will sign for the club in the upcoming transfer window. The former Liverpool right-back ran down his contract, but Los Blancos have ageed to pay a fee for him in order to bring him to the Santiago Bernabeu in time to play the Club World Cup.
Real Madrid could have had him on a free in July, and Alexander-Arnold would only have missed three games in the group stages against Pachuca, Al-Hilal and RB Salzburg. Hence it was met with some surprise when it was revealed in England that Los Blancos would pay not the €5m originally reported, but €10m for his services.
Trent Alexander-Arnold set for huge signing bonus
The 26-year-old will not be short-changed from the deal either. Despite Real Madrid eventually paying a fee for him, Alexander-Arnold did do as promised and run his deal down in order to make it an affordable deal for Real Madrid. As such, he will be treated the same as the likes of Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba, who did the same at Chelsea and Bayern Munich respectively, although Kylian Mbappe is the most obvious example. MD say Alexander-Arnold is set to receive a €20m signing bonus from Los Blancos as a result.
Real Madrid spending not done yet
Even so, for the quality of right-back he is, and the age he is at, the five-year deal ultimately still works out as economic in the grand scheme of the market. Real Madrid have already spent €60m on Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth, and Los Blancos are now working to bring in Benfica left-back Alvaro Carreras. There is talk that Real Madrid will also target a midfielder, but if they do, the intention is not to spend big.
