- Trent learned of Real move during parade
- Defender joined early for £8.6m fee
- Trent spent 20 years at Liverpool
Alexander-Arnold, 26, was given the shock news that the Reds had accepted a £8.6 million (€10m/$11.7m) offer to allow him to move to the Spanish giants on June 1 as Arne Slot’s side held an open-top bus parade after clinching their 20th league crown, according to The Telegraph. The report claims that the defender was pulled to one side by Michael Edwards, Liverpool’s chief executive of football, sporting director Richard Hughes, and Mike Gordon, president of the club’s U.S. owners Fenway Sports Group.
The England international had previously announced on May 5 that he was leaving Liverpool on a free transfer when his contract expired on June 30. Alexander-Arnold described his decision to end his 20-year association with his boyhood club as “the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life.”
Real have made a strong start to the new 2025-26 La Liga season, winning their opening three games against Osasuna, Real Oviedo and Mallorca. Alexander-Arnold featured in all three fixtures but he was left out of Thomas Tuchel’s squad for England’s World Cup qualifying double header against Andorra and Serbia this month.
Alexander-Arnold will be hoping to help Real make it four wins from as many La Liga games when they travel to Real Sociedad on September 13. Xabi Alonso’s men then get their Champions League campaign under way when they host Marseille at the Santiago Bernabeu on September 16. Alexander-Arnold will later return to Anfield when Real take on Liverpool in the Champions League on November 4.
