Liverpool, the club and the city, still means a lot to Trent Alexander-Arnold, even after a slightly sour exit to Real Madrid at the start of this summer, former Reds star Steve McManaman has revealed.
Alexander-Arnold was booed by some Liverpool fans towards the end of last season, with his loyalty openly questioned after opting not to sign a new contract and pursue a transfer instead.
The right back played at the FIFA Club World Cup with his new team and is now on the brink of the new La Liga campaign. But he has been back home in Liverpool “a lot” already, revealed by McManaman—someone who knows the path from Anfield to the Bernabéu well.
“He knows how important Liverpool is,” McManaman said of Alexander-Arnold during a La Liga event in New York to celebrate the imminent launch of 2025–26. “He knows that he needs to keep the fans at Liverpool as happy as they possibly can, because he left under the cloud to a certain extent, even though he got a lovely reception at the end of the season.”
“He’s back there a lot. He speaks to people a lot, because I’ve spoken to those people. I don’t think there's any problem, really. It was just something that he needed to do," McManaman added.
“He’s been at Liverpool since [age] 6, he's played for every team, right through the academy. He's been a superstar. I think at 26 and coming to the end of his contract, he's not married, no children, it’s just a perfect opportunity, if the right club came along to go and express and try something new.”
McManaman revealed close contact with Alexander-Arnold and his chief representative since the Real Madrid transfer was completing.
“I’ve spoken to him on a number of occasions, and I’ve spoken to his brother, who’s his agent," McManaman said. “He’s very close friends with Jude Bellingham, so he knows how to integrate into the Real Madrid side. He knows how to adapt. He needs to learn the language as soon as possible. I know he did his [unveiling] press conference in Spanish, but his Spanish is not that good. That was smoke and mirrors and an autocue, but he made a big impression.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘Something He Needed to Do’—Liverpool Legend Reveals Trent Alexander-Arnold Talks After Real Madrid Transfer.
