Liverpool: Jamie Carragher sends Trent Alexander-Arnold 'legacy' warning after free transfer decision

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·05 de maio de 2025

Liverpool: Jamie Carragher sends Trent Alexander-Arnold 'legacy' warning after free transfer decision

Carragher is not expecting Alexander-Arnold to receive warm welcome when he returns to Anfield

Jamie Carragher has warned Trent Alexander-Arnold that his legacy at Liverpool will be tarnished by his decision to leave the club.

Vídeos OneFootball

The 26-year-old announced on Monday that he will bring an end to his time at Liverpool this summer, leaving as a free agent when his contract expires.

It is expected that Alexander-Arnold will join Real Madrid, and Carragher believes that the “simmering resentment” some Liverpool fans feel towards that is justified.

“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,” Carragher said in his column for The Telegraph.

“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.”

Explaining his decision, Alexander-Arnold, who has been at Liverpool for 20 years, said he wanted a “new challenge” but that “his love for this club will never die”.

However, Carragher pointed to comments from the defender earlier his career when he spoke of his desire to become Liverpool captain and how he had never considered leaving the club.

“Different players have different characteristics and ambitions,” Carragher said.

“Liverpool fans did not think Alexander-Arnold saw his path in the same way as [Michael] Owen and [Davd] Beckham because he said his dream was to captain the club and follow his hero Gerrard. Fans are obviously going to be upset.”

Alexander-Arnold won eight major honours as a Liverpool player, including two Premier League titles and the Champions League, but Carragher believes that will all be forgotten when the right-back returns to Anfield with another club.

“I love seeing a Liverpool-born lad doing so well he will play for Real Madrid,” Carragher said.

“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.”