Alexander-Arnold to leave Liverpool at season-end amid Real Madrid rumours | Football News

After a 20-year association with the famous English side, Alexander-Arnold will exit the club at the end of the season in search of a new challenge.

Trent Alexander-Arnold has announced he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season after 20 years at the club, with the England right back widely expected to join Real Madrid.

Alexander-Arnold, who has just clinched a second Premier League title with Liverpool, did not mention his next destination when confirming his departure from Anfield on his social media accounts on Monday.

He said it was “easily the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life”.

“This club has been my whole life – my whole world – for 20 years,” the 26-year-old Alexander-Arnold wrote. “From the academy right through until now, the support and love I have felt from everyone inside and outside of the club will stay with me forever. I will forever be in debt to you all.

“But, I have never known anything else and this decision is about experiencing a new challenge, taking myself out of my comfort zone and pushing myself both professionally and personally. I’ve given my all every single day I’ve been at this club, and I hope you feel like I’ve given back to you during my time here.”

While Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk have recently signed new two-year deals with Liverpool, there was lingering uncertainty over the future of Alexander-Arnold, who was also out of contract at the end of this season.

“I know many of you have wondered why or been frustrated that I haven’t spoken about this yet,” he wrote, “but it was always my intention to keep my full focus on the team’s best interests, which was securing [league title] No. 20.”

Alexander-Arnold has won every major honour with the Merseyside club, including the Premier League in 2020 and again this year, as well as the Champions League in 2019.

He was key to revolutionising the role of a right back, with Alexander-Arnold having been Liverpool’s most creative player at times with his marauding runs down the right and his ability to come infield and pick out passes to the team’s attackers.

“From the bottom of my heart, I thank everybody – my coaches, my managers, my teammates, the staff and our incredible supporters – for the last 20 years,” Alexander-Arnold wrote.

“I’ve been blessed enough to live out my dreams here and I will never, ever take for granted the special moments I’ve been fortunate enough to have lived through with you all. My love for this club will never die.”

If he does go to Madrid, it would be on a free transfer, and he would follow in the footsteps of the likes of Steve McManaman, Michael Owen and Xabi Alonso in swapping Anfield for the Santiago Bernabeu. That would mean him joining his England teammate Jude Bellingham in Madrid.