Full-back did it all for his boyhood club and is off to a new reality where his game will face increased scrutiny
Before basking in the acclaim and adulation of the Kop when No 20 was sealed two Sundays ago, Trent Alexander-Arnold headed for the suits. There was a warm embrace between the Liverpool star and Michael Edwards, chief executive of football at Fenway Sports Group, and another with Richard Hughes, the man who initiated contract talks with Alexander-Arnold’s brother and agent prior to starting as the club’s new sporting director last summer and has faced a losing battle on that score ever since.
They all knew it was ending but there were evidently no hard feelings. Liverpool feel they did everything they could to persuade Alexander-Arnold to stay. They offered a new deal that reflected his status as the finest full-back in the Premier League and one of the best in the world. They not only offered success, Arne Slot’s team delivered it. But they could not offer a new experience to a player whose stated aim is to win the Ballon d’Or and wants “that legacy of being the greatest right-back to have played football. I have got to reach for the stars”.
