Alexander-Arnold saga ‘settled’ as Real Madrid secure hugely-lucrative Liverpool raid

Real Madrid have finally secured the signing of Trent Alexander-Arnold with several high-profile outlets and journalists all confirming a full agreement with the Spanish giants has been reached and with the departing Liverpool player signing a deal that will set him up for life.

The 26-year-old has been on Los Blancos radar for a good number of years now, with Carlo Ancelotti’s side making clear their intentions to bring the player to the Bernabeu from Anfield in summer 2025. Now, after a months of speculation over the Liverpool man’s future, it appears an agreement has now been reached and an official announcement confirming the move is immiment.

Regarded as one of the best right-backs in world football, Alexander-Arnold has won the lot while at Anfield, collecting seven major trophies – all won under the management of Jurgen Klopp, the man who gave him his big break.

And while the Reds vice-captain looks certain to depart Merseyside as a Premier League title winner once again, his free transfer move to Real Madrid will certainly be regarded as bitter-sweet for those at Anfield.

While Marca reported on Monday that Alexander-Arnold had rejected Liverpool’s final contract proposal aimed at getting him to stay, it only seemed a matter of time before the move became official.

Now, Sky Sports Switzerland have led the way on Tuesday by claiming the 33-times capped England man has finally agreed personal terms with Madrid after protracted negotiations.

They state Alexander-Arnold is set to put pen to paper on a lucrative five-year deal worth around £12.5million-a-year – around £240,000 a week – and guaranteeing the player will earn £62.5m over the contract that runs through to 2031. The 26-year-old is also set to bank a signing bonus that is described as ‘equivalent to a reasonable transfer fee’.

Also confirming that an announcement was imminent, Fabrizio Romano posted on X: ‘Trent Alexander-Arnold and Real Madrid, story revealed one year ago. Deal on.’

DON’T MISS 🔴 The stunning Liverpool XI without TAA, Van Dijk and Salah as FIVE giant summer signings planned

Liverpool warned about life after Alexander-Arnold

The departure of one of the world’s most gifted and creative right-backs will leave a sizeable hole for Arne Slot and Co. to fill.

With 109 goal involvements since breaking into the Liverpool side, few can do what the player does from right-back in the world game. And his tally of 87 assists in his 349 appearances in his boyhood side’s colours are befitting of a creative midfielder, let alone a so-called full-back.

Real Madrid interest in Alexander-Arnold can be tracked by as far as 18 months ago, when their plans to prise him away from Anfield as a free agent in summer 2025 was first reported. However, interest in him actually dates back even further with initial reports linking the player with a move to the Bernabeu historically going back a good five years.

Now, though, it appears they are set to land their man, confirming what our sources revealed to us way back in October. And with our transfer insider revealing back then how officials from Los Blancos were confident of a deal and had been in what was described to us as ‘constant contact’ over his signing, it seems that long-drawn-out pursuit has finally paid dividends.

With a transfer announcement imminent, former Reds defender Stephen Warnock has revealed he does fear for what life will look like for Liverpool once the player moves on.

Warnock told Liverpool.com: “The loss to Newcastle was a bit of a look into what life might be like without Trent Alexander-Arnold if he is to leave this summer.

“In big games like that you need someone who’s able to find a killer pass or calm the game down and take the pressure off with their ability on the ball. Trent is capable of doing those things. He has his defensive vulnerabilities, but he gives the team so much on the ball and going forward.

“In the end though, I thought Newcastle were the better team on the day and they were just at the races more than Liverpool were. The way they set up was impressive and they had the better of Liverpool from the off.

“If Arne Slot could go back I think he would’ve made changes a bit earlier. I don’t even think it’s just down to that game. If you look back at the Paris Saint-Germain and Southampton games, he should’ve freshened things up a bit and made more changes.

“Liverpool played against Real Madrid this season without Trent and beat them, so it shows they can cope without him. They coped with losing players like Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard, they can cope without Trent. It’s about making sure you replace these players with quality.”

READ MORE 🔴 Five reasons for Trent Alexander-Arnold to stay at Liverpool vs five reasons to leave for Real Madrid

Michael Owen, meanwhile, has also debated the pros and cons of the player’s potential exit, having made the same move himself 21 years earlier.

“Does he want to stay at Liverpool? He’s been there, seen it, done it, won everything, got the t-shirt,” Owen told talkSPORT.

“He could retire at the club and be an all-time legend, will be an all-time legend. I mean, he’s contributed so much to that club, he’s come through the ranks.

“Nobody can doubt his loyalty or anything else like that. And he could play out his days and he’s still in a successful team. Liverpool are still absolutely one of the best teams in Europe, of course, going to go on to win the league as well this season. I mean, it’s not a bad choice.

“My choice, when I was in that situation, we weren’t quite as good as the current Liverpool team in terms of we weren’t quite as dominant.

“But it is a similar thing, no question about it. The other alternative, of course, is he can be sitting there thinking, I’ve done everything, I’ve achieved absolutely everything at my boyhood.

“Who can deny me a chance to go and play for one of the biggest teams in the world, a new experience, a new country, new language, new weather, new food, new everything? And what a team.”

Liverpool’s plans to replace Alexander-Arnold with ‘speed demon’ wanted

Thankfully, Liverpool have had plenty of months to plan for this likely scenario and club scouts have been scouring the globe for would-be replacements.

To that end, the Reds are seemingly close to signing Jeremie Frimpong – described as a ‘speed demon’ – as a replacement for Alexander-Arnold, after a report revealed that the Bayer Leverkusen right-back hopes of joining another side had faded, leaving Liverpool as his sole suitors.

Alternatively, trusted reporter David Ornstein suggested over the weekend that Liverpool are unlikely to sign a replacement for Alexander-Arnold, backing the players already at their disposal to cover for him.

“Is [Conor] Bradley not the heir apparent if Alexander-Arnold leaves? [Jarell] Quansah and [Joe] Gomez can play there too.

“That doesn’t rule out recruitment but I don’t think it would be at the top of the priority list,” Ornstein said.

Elsewhere, speculation that Liverpool want to offload Federico Chiesa at the end of the season have drawn a big response from the player’s father – himself a former high-profile player – and having made clear the winger’s future plans at Anfield.

On the incoming front, the wisdom in Liverpool’s decision to sign Giorgi Mamardashvili has been questioned, with a blameless star now told his Anfield career is over as a result.

Alexander-Arnold timeline since his last Liverpool contract

By Samuel Bannister

July 30, 2021: Alexander-Arnold signs a new, four-year contract at Liverpool. “I’m honoured to be given the opportunity and to be shown the trust in the club to be given an extension, so it was a no-brainer for me,” the then-22-year-old said. “The state the club is in and where I’m at in my career is always a good option for me. To extend and make sure I’m here longer is always a good thing. I’m made up. It’s the only club I’ve ever really known, so to be here for this amount of time and extending to be here for a longer amount of time is amazing for me and my family.”

December 10, 2021: Alexander-Arnold is named as the Premier League player of the month for November 2021.

February 27, 2022: Liverpool win the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea on penalties, with Alexander-Arnold starting and scoring his spot kick.

May 14, 2022: Liverpool beat Chelsea on penalties again, this time to win the FA Cup final and with Alexander-Arnold again being a scorer from the spot.

May 28, 2022: Alexander-Arnold starts in the Champions League final for Liverpool, but they lose to Real Madrid and the right-back is blamed in various columns for leaving Vinicius Junior free to score the winning goal.

June 9, 2022: Alexander-Arnold is named in the PFA Premier League team of the season.

July 31, 2023: Liverpool name Alexander-Arnold as their new vice-captain, second in command to Virgil van Dijk, following the departures of Jordan Henderson and James Milner. The following day, Alexander-Arnold states: “I’ve never been shy of saying what my ambitions are and that’s always been to captain this club. This is a pathway and a stepping stone to that. It’s a role and a responsibility I’m really looking forward to and I can’t wait to get started, get the season started and hopefully achieve the things we want to.”

February 10, 2024: Alexander-Arnold becomes the defender with the most assists in Premier League history thanks to setting up a goal against Burnley.

March 22, 2024: Fabrizio Romano confirms Real Madrid are monitoring Alexander-Arnold’s contract situation after he entered the final 18 months of his deal. The journalist will later re-post and pin the same update on his X account multiple times.

September 22, 2024: Alexander-Arnold gives a rare indication of his thoughts on his future to Sky Sports, saying: “I have always said I want to captain the club. That is a goal of mine, whether that happens is out of my hands. I want to be a Liverpool player this season [as a minimum] is what I will say. The most important thing is always trophies. I want to win trophies.”

December 31, 2024: Real Madrid make an approach to buy Alexander-Arnold in the January transfer window just before it opens, but Liverpool instantly reject it before any kind of fee is discussed.

January 17, 2025: An update from Marca claims Real Madrid are considering making a new bid to sign Alexander-Arnold in January, but it doesn’t come to pass and the attention turns to a pre-contract agreement.

January 26, 2025: Romano reiterates that Alexander-Arnold is Real Madrid’s no.1, no.2 and no.3 target and that they are ‘absolutely convinced’ they can sign him on a free transfer in the summer, with official contacts being prepared.

February 12, 2025: Telegraph journalist Mike McGrath reports that Real Madrid believe a deal for Alexander-Arnold to join in the summer is effectively done.

February 26, 2025: Athletic journalist James Pearce relays that Real Madrid are ‘very confident’ that Alexander-Arnold will become their player.

March 22, 2025: Marca claims Alexander-Arnold has rejected Liverpool’s last-ditch final offer of a new contract, making him there for the taking for Real Madrid.

March 25, 2025: Various reports imply Alexander-Arnold has agreed to join Real Madrid on a free transfer in the summer when his Liverpool contract expires.