Trent Alexander-Arnold would regret Real Madrid transfer

Trent Alexander-Arnold has some big decisions to make over the next few months, and possibly even weeks. In four days’ time, the boyhood Liverpool fan could begin negotiating an exit from the club he joined at the age of six.

According to a report in MARCA today, Alexander-Arnold has told Real Madrid that he'll join the European champions in the summer. The attraction of joining Los Blancos, one the biggest clubs and most successful sides in the history of world soccer, is obvious — and that’s before you consider the weather.

But Alexander-Arnold must also consider what he would be walking away from and, if he leaves Liverpool, he will experience a completely different environment at Real compared to the comfortable surroundings he is used to. At least that’s the opinion of Michael Owen and Steve McManaman, two players who swapped Merseyside for Madrid during their playing days.

And despite both establishing themselves as fan favorites during their respective times at Anfield, that status disappeared pretty quickly when they moved on. That’s something else Alexander-Arnold can’t overlook.

"I can assure you I was as loyal and committed and everything else as the likes of Trent and [Jamie] Carragher and all these people. But you lose a little bit of control and things happen," Owen said in a recent interview with the Liverpool Echo.

"Then you've almost gone into career mode and ‘right, I've got to stay at the top, I've got to do this, I've got to keep my England place’. All these other factors start coming in.

(Image: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images)

"Whereas when you're at Liverpool, when you're at your boyhood club, it just all happens in front of you. You've got no decisions to make, just keep getting out there and playing football. It's all different."

Owen lasted just one year in La Liga before returning home, unlike McManaman, who spent four years at Real and won the Champions League twice in that period.

"Would I encourage it? I had the most wonderful time," opined the 52-year-old earlier this season. "I personally don't know Trent's situation. I think Liverpool want him to stay but it's entirely a personal thing, isn't it?

"Do Real Madrid want him? I think every club in the world would want him, someone of his caliber on a free... I think that goes without saying. But he might want to stay here — his family are here — or he might think ‘you know what, I've been here 20 years as a man and a boy, I'll try somewhere new'.

(Image: Graham Chadwick/ALLSPORT)

"Because once he stays, if he does stay and sign a five-year, six-year deal here, he's here for the future, isn't he? He's here for life."

It’s a similar warning Jamie Carragher recently had for Liverpool’s right-back. “It is more than a football decision whether it is money, trophies or your career — it is about his legacy at Liverpool and how he's seen,” the ex-defender said after Liverpool’s 6-3 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

"Does he want to be seen how Steven Gerrard is seen? Or Steve McManaman? I feel for Steve. He went to Real Madrid and won a couple of European Cups, but he is not adored by Liverpool fans."

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