Trent Alexander-Arnold chooses Real Madrid.

Karan Ahgun

— 3 min read
Trent Alexander-Arnold chooses Real Madrid.

This week's football news has been dominated by the suggestion from a number of reliable sources that Trent Alexander-Arnold's potential free transfer to Real Madrid has taken another step closer to completion. Following this, the Liverpool star has faced criticism from fans online who are entirely against this move, especially for someone who has climbed up from Liverpool's academy.

The outrage amongst some Liverpool fans around this move is a bit confusing. Real Madrid are the biggest club in the world and any player who is offered the chance to play for them will jump at the opportunity (except Barcelona players). Therefore, it is entirely understandable why TAA would want to make the move. He has won everything possible at Liverpool since his debut, and will be winning a 2nd Premier League title this season so he is deserving of a hero's goodbye on the last match day of the season. TAA has been iconic in this successful period for Liverpool and probably has a place amongst the greats at such a storied football club. He and Andy Robertson are at the top of the all-time Premier League assists record for defenders and his almost Beckham-esque range of passing and accuracy are attributes which set him apart from other players at the top of the game.

The criticism of TAA this week has been severely unfair but the main root of Liverpool fan's frustrations is probably the fact that the club has allowed a situation where their best 3 players are out of contract this summer. Should Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk leave on free transfers too, all hell will break loose in the Liverpool fanbase and even more criticism will land at the doorstep of Liverpool's owners. All 3 players' contract situations are probably interlinked, in terms of each player will be keeping tabs on what each other are being offered by the club. If Liverpool were to lose all 3 players, there will be a massive rebuild on the cards for the club this summer. Replacing them will be extremely difficult, especially when you consider the impact each of them have on the performance of the team.

So with TAA almost definitely leaving Liverpool this summer, the club has a big task on their hands in trying to find a way to replace his unique skillset. Young Connor Bradley could be given a chance to step up but he doesn't possess the creativity TAA does. Maybe Liverpool will recruit an all-rounder at right-back and look to fill the creativity vacuum by adding an imaginative midfielder this summer.

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