Winning Premier League in front of fans at Anfield was a feeling I’ll never forget: Alexander-Arnold

Liverpool, May 5 Trent Alexander-Arnold and Liverpool FC confirmed that the English wingback will not be renewing his contract with the Merseyside club ending his two-decade-long association with the Reds. Although a new club has not been announced, Real Madrid’s long-time admiration of the wingback has been one of the worst-kept secrets in football and it is expected that the announcement will follow in the coming days.

Alexander-Arnold became an integral part of a Liverpool side that lifted four major trophies within 14 months, passing the 100-appearance mark for his boyhood club during a Treble-winning 2019/20 season in which the Reds won the Premier League, FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup.

Indeed, his importance to Klopp was underlined by the fact that he featured in all 38 matches en route to Liverpool's first English league title since 1990.

Alexander-Arnold contributed 13 Premier League assists during 2019/20 – a record for a defender, having bettered his tally of 12 in 2018/19. His emergence as a world-class right-back was confirmed. However, their celebrations did not live up to their expectations as they had to celebrate without the fans during the Covid-19 outbreak.

Trent spoke on how important this year’s PL triumph is for him, as it allowed him to celebrate with the fans at Anfield before he left.

“You get a few of those moments in your life, I believe. Those special feelings that football can give you. It’s been an aim and a target for us over the last six, seven years, I guess. Especially winning the title without fans [in 2019-20] – that one motivated us a lot more, to win it with the fans there. To win it at home at Anfield was a dream of mine.

“ You dream of that growing up. Winning a Premier League title for Liverpool at Anfield is something that I’ve pictured over and over in my head. But to achieve that against Tottenham was right up there for me; it was a feeling that I’ll never forget. I’ll be able to cherish it forever,” said Trent to lfc.com.

The England defender, now 26, first joined the Merseyside club as a six-year-old and rose through the ranks of Liverpool's academy, where he mainly played as a midfielder.

Alexander-Arnold captained Liverpool's Under-16 and Under-18 teams, but it was his switch from a midfield role to defence that fast-tracked his breakthrough into the first team.

Having been handed a senior debut as an 18-year-old by Jurgen Klopp in the EFL Cup in October 2016, Alexander-Arnold never looked back and the creative ability he had developed as a midfielder became a game-changing attribute at right-back.

According to a report by The Athletic, Liverpool and Trent were in positive talks surrounding a new contract but as talks progressed, his exit became more likely as the Englishman was in desperate need for a fresh challenge and was excited by the prospect of having to prove himself in a new club.

Trent confirmed he could have 100% signed a new deal with the club and he has full faith that the team will continue to be grow under Arne Slot.

“One hundred per cent, a massive possibility. I’ve got full confidence in the manager and the staff and the club going forward. It’s not about me thinking we’re not going to fight for titles or fight for trophies season in, season out, because I knew from the first few moments with the manager that he was a winner, he was aiming to go and win things. And you’ve seen that this season with the way that we’ve played.

“So it was never about not having confidence in that, it just boiled down to what I felt I needed, and that is a change. That’s something I need to do on my personal journey as a person, but also as a player and a professional, to go and challenge myself elsewhere. I feel like a challenge in a different environment is something I need to do as a player,” he added.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor