FIFA decision means Liverpool could earn seven figures from Trent Alexander-Arnold exit after agreement reached
Trent Alexander-Arnold will leave Liverpool once his contract expires
Liverpool could still get a fee from Real Madrid for Trent Alexander-Arnold with the Champions League holders keen to bring the England international to Spain before the FIFA Club World Cup starts next month.
The Premier League made the decision in late March to have two transfer windows this summer to allow Manchester City and Chelsea to sign players before the Club World Cup. Trading opens between Sunday, 1 June and Tuesday, 10 June before closing for five days and reopening on Monday, June 16 until Monday, September 1. Other top-flight clubs will be allowed to complete transfer deals in that time.
The expanded FIFA Club World Cup gets underway on June 15 and Real Madrid will also be part of the tournament having won the Champions League in 2024 with a 2-0 victory over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. Back in October, FIFA announced they would allow clubs to register new players between June 1 and June 10 ahead of the Club World Cup and Madrid are hoping to register Alexander-Arnold in that timeframe to allow him to play in the tournament.
Liverpool could earn fee from early Trent Alexander-Arnold exit
Alexander-Arnold is under contract with Liverpool until June 30 and will leave the club on that date. The Guardian reports he has reached a verbal agreement to sign for Real Madrid on a five-year contract. That is set to kick into effect from July 1, after the Club World Cup has ended. And while an agreement has been reached on Alexander-Arnold’s move to the Spanish capital, Madrid may still have to go through Liverpool to complete the deal on their timing.
AS in Spain report that Madrid want Alexander-Arnold before his contract with Liverpool comes to an end. Madrid have reportedly offered £510,000 to the Reds to sanction an exit one month early. However, sporting director Richard Hughes wants £850,000 from Madrid and for Alexander-Arnold to give up his June salary, which is said to be around £765,000. If Hughes gets his wish, Liverpool could earn a nice seven-figure sum of £1.615m when adding the £850,000 compensation fee to the money saved from Alexander-Arnold’s salary.
And while it is nothing like the mega-money they would want for Alexander-Arnold leaving, it is still better than earning nothing from his exit. Liverpool should hold out for their demands when it comes to Alexander-Arnold, as Madrid are the ones keen to bring him on board early.
Trent Alexander-Arnold on decision to leave Liverpool
It was revealed on Monday that Alexander-Arnold would be leaving the club after 20 years. He said of his decision: “I think first and foremost, I want to say it’s not an easy decision and there’s a lot of thought and feeling that has gone into it. I’ve been here 20 years now, loved every single minute of it, achieved all my dreams, achieved everything I’ve ever wanted to here. Giving everything day in, day out for 20 years, I’ve got to a point now where I feel like I need a change, a new challenge for me as a player and as a person. And I think now is the right time for me to do that.
“Obviously there’s been a lot of noise around what the decision was going to be and how that was going to look. I know a lot of people will say I should have said sooner, a lot of people will say maybe I waited for the right time. But I felt personally the focus should always be on the pitch, should always be about the football. When we were in a title race and trying to push for trophies, it’s about making the right decision for the team and trying not to distract the team and take away from what we’re doing on the pitch. For me, it was always to do it after the season was kind of done; not so much the final game but when there was nothing else really to play for. “