Trent Alexander-Arnold admits to planned Real Madrid move

Real Madrid right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold has finally admitted to a planned move to the Spanish capital, way before his summer switch from Anfield to the Santiago Bernabeu.

Alexander-Arnold’s contract saga dominated headlines last season, with reports claiming he rejected multiple Liverpool offers while holding out for better terms.

The English international’s recent admission highlights contrasting reports from the Reds’ earlier reports on the player’s exit.

In the same period, teammates Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk faced the media regularly to discuss their contract situations, whileTrent’s absence from interviews became glaring.

This silence, followed by his eventual exit, infuriated Liverpool fans, who accused their boyhood star of departing in a manner that would inflict significant financial damage.

Given that the Kop rated him as their most valuable asset at the time, leaving for free – Real Madrid eventually had to pay £10 million to Liverpool to release him earlier than expected to join Xabi Alonso’s squad for the Club World Cup.

During his Madrid unveiling in June 2025, he slipped up by saying he had been “waiting a long time” for the transfer, a phrase that fuelled claims he’d been planning the switch for months.

He quickly corrected himself, insisting he had only been waiting a couple of weeks since the deal was finalised.

The 26-year-old delivered his speech in fluent Spanish during his unveiling, further fueling rumours that he had been preparing for life in Madrid long in advance.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Real Madrid teammate Jude Bellingham on England having a chat while on assignment

Ahead of the highly anticipated Champions League clash between Liverpool and Madrid, Trent has once again hinted that his decision to leave Anfield was made early, and that Jude Bellingham played a major role in convincing him.

Speaking to Amazon Prime (via Liverpool.com), he said:

“There was a lot of speculation… the ‘agent Jude ’ stuff. It was more so in his first season (at Real Madrid)… we’d meet up at England camps and everyone would want to know what it was like behind the scenes (at Real Madrid )… he said it was incredible, and he’d never seen anything like it.

“The drive from the whole club, to win and the expectation to win. He talked so highly of the club, and I’d made my mind up at the end of the day, I needed a change for me. I wanted a new challenge on and off the pitch.”

That revelation will likely deepen the resentment of Liverpool fans, who now feel fully justified in suspecting the transfer was planned long before it surfaced.