What Arne Slot told Trent Alexander-Arnold upon learning of 26y/o’s decision to leave Liverpool | OneFootball

Two years after assuming the vice-captaincy of his boyhood club, Trent Alexander-Arnold has confirmed that he’ll leave Liverpool at the end of his contract next month.

It’s been an open secret for some time that the right-back looks set to depart for Real Madrid on a free transfer, and while the Bernabeu hasn’t been officially announced as his destination, the 26-year-old has revealed that this season will be his last at Anfield.

What Slot told Trent upon learning of exit decision

In an article for The Athletic reflecting on the England international’s exit, James Pearce reported that the player had informed Arne Slot of his decision face-to-face during the pause to the club season in March, when he wasn’t involved with his national team due to injury.

The Liverpool head coach was naturally disappointed at the news but respected the choice from Trent, for whom he had a clear message in response: “You’re a huge part of this team and let’s end it on a high together.”

The vice-captain duly reassured his boss that his ‘mindset and commitment’ wouldn’t change and that he’d ‘continue to give everything for this club until the final day’ of the season.

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Liverpool must now look towards life after Trent

One part of Slot’s statement has already been proven correct – Trent will bid farewell to Liverpool on a high after the Reds clinched the Premier League title, and they’ll be presented with the trophy on the day that he’s destined to say his goodbyes at Anfield on 25 May.

The right-back hasn’t been ostracised by his boss either despite the Dutchman knowing of his decision to leave, having been summoned from the bench against Leicester upon recovering from injury and duly scoring the late winner to put LFC on the brink of becoming champions.

The vice-captain started the subsequent two games but, now that his exit from the club is public knowledge, it’ll be interesting to see if he keeps his pace for the rest of the season or if Slot instead looks to the future and selects Conor Bradley.

Although the 46-year-old seems to have accepted Trent’s decision with good grace, we suspect that deep down he’ll be bitterly disappointed that such an important player is jumping ship at a time when Liverpool have enjoyed tangible success and appear to be well-placed for further glory in the coming years.

We don’t doubt that our outgoing number 66 will have been aware of the implications of his career choice before settling on it, and he’ll have a fair idea of the potential consequences if things don’t go well for him at his next club.

For Liverpool, though, they simply need to accept his decision and move on from it by setting themselves up for continued success in the future.