Alexander-Arnold faces Liverpool dilemma between Red or regret | OneFootball

If Trent Alexander-Arnold is truly yet to make a decision on his future, it is a dilemma that must be keeping the Liverpool full-back up at night.

Real Madrid, a club with a magnetic pull on players, are calling.

Football’s tribalistic culture means that there are some of a Liverpool persuasion already beginning to turn on Alexander-Arnold. The silence around his future, from both the player and clubs, is deafening. While Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, Liverpool’s other high-profile names approaching free agency, have gone public with a desire to stay, Alexander-Arnold has remained tight-lipped.

For those who love Liverpool, the concept of Alexander-Arnold leaving is impossible to stomach. This is one of their own, a red from the age of six. If reports are to be believed, the ‘Scouser in their team’ is contemplating turning his back on the club he and they love.

But as the mural tribute in the shadow of Anfield reads, Alexander-Arnold has already lived out his childhood dreams. Growing up near Liverpool’s former training ground at Melwood, he dreamt of wearing the famous red colours. Passage through the Reds’ ranks followed, before his breakthrough as a teenager and emergence as one of the most uniquely gifted talents of a generation.

He featured in a Champions League final at 19, won the competition a year later, and formed part of the Liverpool side that ended a title drought that began before his birth. By 24, Alexander-Arnold has won every available major honour with his boyhood side, so perhaps it is understandable his aims and ambitions might have shifted.

In October, Alexander-Arnold spoke about becoming the “greatest right-back to have played football” and set his sights on the Ballon d’Or. Such is his individual ambition, the 26-year-old said he would choose winning the award over the World Cup.

“I believe I can,” Alexander-Arnold, told Sky Sports.

“I want to be the first full-back to ever do it. It’s only the morning after you retire that you’re able to look in the mirror and say, ‘I gave it everything I got’. It doesn’t matter how many trophies you win, or how many medals you’ve got. It matters what you give to the game and if you reach your full potential.”

Whether Liverpool like it or not, there is no bigger stage to make that happen than Real Madrid. The Spaniards are record 15-time winners of the European Cup, have won six of the last 11, and have had eight Ballon d’Or winners. In contrast, just three players have won the accolade while playing in England during the Premier League era.

Add in a gaping hole at right-back as Dani Carvajal nears the end, and the chance of a new challenge alongside close friend Jude Bellingham, and it is an opportunity difficult to turn down.

But Alexander-Arnold will know better than most how leaving Liverpool has impacted the legacy of former favourites. Steven Gerrard, despite a brief dalliance with Chelsea, gave his best years to the club and commands iconic status. Steve McManaman and Michael Owen, who both left Liverpool at the peak of their powers for Real Madrid, are hardly welcomed back with open arms.

Their exits came with Liverpool struggling to compete for major trophies. Alexander-Arnold would leave a Liverpool side who have been Europe’s outstanding outfit so far this season. It adds complexity to a saga that is beginning to rankle with Reds.

Perhaps Alexander-Arnold will win – and lose – whatever the decision. Put pen to paper and he can become an all-time great at Liverpool, if he does not deserve that status already.

But then there is the what if? Leave, and he has the chance to represent Europe’s serial winners, a side whose expectations outweigh all rivals, and who hold a glamour that remains unrivalled.

His exit for free would sting, but this is a player who cost nothing, has provided years of record-breaking service, and has served the contact he signed. He should not be begrudged the chance to take on new challenges. Rightly or wrongly, however, he risks the reputation he has built in a red shirt. Alexander-Arnold will know that better that most.

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