Real Madrid are in talks over finalising the signing of Liverpool full-back Trent Alexander-Arnold on a free transfer this summer.
Discussions over the protracted transfer are ongoing as the Spanish side look to secure the England international before the start of next season.
Multiple sources close to the negotiations have told BBC Sport that while a deal is still to be fully agreed, work towards completing the transfer is reaching the closing stages – though nothing has been signed yet.
Alexander-Arnold is in the final three months of his contract at Liverpool and is free to discuss a move abroad.
Real have made the 26-year-old a priority target this summer with sources close to the situation saying the Spanish club have been tracking the player for close to two years.
Alexander-Arnold has spent his entire career at Anfield, coming through the academy to make more than 300 appearances for the club.
He has won every major trophy while playing for Liverpool and is the club’s vice-captain.
How did it get to this stage?
Having joined the club at the age of six, Alexander-Arnold progressed through the Liverpool academy and was given his first-team debut by Jurgen Klopp in October 2016.
He has established himself as a key member of a side that won the Premier League, Champions League and Club World Cup in the space of 14 months in 2019 and 2020.
Alexander-Arnold signed a new four-year contract in the summer of 2021 and scored penalties in shootouts of both finals as Liverpool won the League Cup and FA Cup in 2021-22.
The England full-back was named in the PFA team of the season for the third time at the end of that campaign and in July 2023 was named Liverpool vice-captain.
“I’ve never been shy of saying what my ambitions are and that’s always been to captain this club,” Alexander-Arnold said at the time. “This is a pathway and a stepping stone to that.”
By the summer of 2024, he had just a year left on his contract and with no suggestion that a new deal was close to being agreed, the relationship between Liverpool fans and Alexander-Arnold has become more strained.
Alexander-Arnold irritated some Reds supporters in October by saying in an interview with Sky Sports that he would rather win a Ballon d’Or,, external football’s most prestigious individual honour, than another Champions League with Liverpool.
Since then, there has been a belief among some fans that he is more focused on his own achievements.
In December, he celebrated scoring against West Ham with a ‘chat’ gesture, referencing the gossip about his future.
That brought more fan frustration given that by not publicly stating his desire to stay or leave, Alexander-Arnold had done little to quieten speculation over where he will be playing football next season.
Reports that Real had made an offer to bring the Liverpool number 66 to Madrid in January coincided with a tough afternoon for Alexander-Arnold against Manchester United, leading to abuse from some of his own fans inside Anfield.
While the defender has helped put Liverpool in a strong position to win the Premier League title in the months since, it remains to be seen what kind of reception Alexander-Arnold will receive from supporters as he looks increasingly likely to leave his boyhood club for nothing.
‘No doubt Trent would be a superstar in Madrid’
Should Alexander-Arnold join Real, he would emulate Steve McManaman, who moved from Liverpool to Madrid on a free transfer in 1999.
“If he does choose to go to Real Madrid and he does choose to forge a new adventure with a new language and a new lifestyle, all credit to him,” McManaman told BBC Sport.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity for him if he does go, and no doubt that he will be a superstar there as well.”
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk and top-scorer Mohamed Salah are also out of contract at the end of the season but McManaman thinks a homegrown player like Alexander-Arnold leaving for free would be viewed differently by supporters.
“It’s unfair [to expect homegrown players to commit to one club for their entire career]. If Van Dijk or Salah leave then it it’s Liverpool’s fault, if Trent were to leave then it’s Trent’s fault,” he added.
While Northern Ireland international Conor Bradley has proven a reliable replacement when called up in the past two seasons, McManaman believes Alexander-Arnold would leave “a considerable hole” at Liverpool.
“[Bradley is] a completely different player to Trent Alexander-Arnold,” the two-time Champions League winner said.
“Trent’s numbers in an attacking sense are absolutely fantastic… but Liverpool fans and everybody will hope that Conor Bradley will be able to fill that void.
“You have a standard level and every year, you try and improve and get better and better.
“We all hope that Conor Bradley achieves that and becomes the superstar that people are talking about when they talk about Trent Alexander-Arnold.”
