Alexander-Arnold leaves as modern Liverpool great - but fans will feel hurt

Trent Alexander-Arnold's announcement that he is leaving Liverpool at the end of the season confirmed what had seemed an inevitability for months.

And even though his next destination was not mentioned in his emotional farewell video, it is an open secret that he will join his friend and England colleague Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid.

Alexander-Arnold deserves credit for clarifying his future now. He could have taken the easy way out and left Liverpool supporters hanging until after the Premier League title victory parade around the city on 26 May.

Instead, the 26-year-old has made his decision public with two home games left - the first against Arsenal, and the second on the final day against Crystal Palace, when Liverpool will lift the trophy to celebrate their 20th English league title.

It will leave him at the mercies of many Liverpool supporters who are baffled that the player they celebrate in song as "the Scouser in our team" has decided to leave his boyhood club on a free transfer.

Alexander-Arnold's celebration of his late winner at Leicester City in April, when he ripped off his red shirt and hoisted it on a corner flag in front of Liverpool's supporters at the King Power Stadium, prompted faint hope that he might find it impossible to leave the club he has called home for 20 years.

The truth hit home when he once more refused to discuss his future during the celebrations of that win.

He was leaving Liverpool and no amount of emotional pull on the heartstrings would change his mind.

Those emotions will be mixed in the stands and on the pitch when Alexander-Arnold plays his final game at Anfield on 25 May – but his leaving as a title winner might just ease the disappointment, and in some cases anger and bemusement, that many Liverpool followers will be feeling.

Liverpool's fans have also have also been questioning the timing of Alexander-Arnold's decision.

He leaves with Liverpool on a title high and well placed to challenge for the biggest domestic and European trophies for years to come, while Real Madrid looked like a team in need of renewal when they were thrashed 5-1 by Arsenal over two legs in the Champions League quarter-final.

It will also be a time of churn off the pitch at the Bernabeu, with legendary coach Carlo Ancelotti expected to leave at the end of the season.

Why leave the stability and success of Liverpool for a time of transition at Real Madrid?

The answer is simple. The lure of Real Madrid is almost always irresistible.

In 2023, Bellingham was being courted by every major club in Europe before deciding on Real. As he put it at the time: "When Real Madrid knock on the door, the whole house shakes."

The biggest indicator as to where Alexander-Arnold's future lay came when Real Madrid lodged a £20m bid in the January transfer window.

Those with long knowledge of Real's transfer strategy were assured they would not make such a move, with its likelihood of rejection, without being confident a free transfer would be completed in the summer.

Liverpool did turn the offer down, not only wanting to keep Alexander-Arnold but also hoping to buy time for a change of heart. Two months later, he met head coach Arne Slot to inform him he would not be signing a new contract.

While there was always a quiet confidence behind the scenes at Anfield that Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk would sign new deals, there was never the same sense of assurance about Alexander-Arnold.

This has been, at times, a difficult season for Alexander-Arnold with injuries and the constant speculation - and latterly assumption - that he was on his way out.

It all seemed to come to head in the 2-2 draw against Manchester United at Anfield in January.

After Real Madrid's bid became public knowledge, Alexander-Arnold delivered a nightmare performance in what looked like a fog of confusion, playing a poor pass that led to Lisandro Martinez's goal for United before getting caught out badly for Amad Diallo's late equaliser.

He was then given a yellow card and replaced by Conor Bradley with four minutes left, having looked lost and distracted throughout, while suddenly feeling the sound of Anfield's frustration aimed in his direction.

It is often whistling in the wind to ask fans who feel betrayed, as some Liverpool supporters will, to remember the good times. But in this case it can be justified.

Alexander-Arnold has played a pivotal in the good times Liverpool's global fanbase have basked in, first under Jurgen Klopp then in a remarkable first title-winning season under Slot.

He has made 352 appearances since making his debut in 2016, scoring 23 goals and claiming all of the game's major prizes. In that time, Liverpool have won 234 of those games.

Alexander-Arnold was integral when Liverpool won their first title in 30 years with Klopp at the helm in 2019-20, having won the Champions League the year before by beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in the final in Madrid.

He now has two Premier League titles to his name, along with the FA Cup and two League Cups, as well as the Fifa Club World Cup and Uefa Super Cup.

For all the debate around Alexander-Arnold's defensive flaws, these were outweighed by the creative brilliance and stunning range of passing that always gave Liverpool an extra dimension. This is proved by his rate of providing 86 assists in his Anfield career.

Alexander-Arnold will be remembered as the local boy who became a modern Liverpool greats. Now he must wait to see if this is fully acknowledged by the supporters who adored him as one of their own wearing the red shirt.