Trent Alexander-Arnold has been warned of the ‘enormous’ pressure at Real Madrid after the right-back announced he would be leaving his boyhood club Liverpool.
The 26-year-old released a statement and video on Monday to confirm he would be departing Merseyside at the end of the season, with the player set to for a move to Real on a free transfer, as Mail Sport has reported.
And as Steve McManaman reflected on his own path between the two clubs, he revealed what Alexander-Arnold should expect in the Spanish capital once the deal becomes official.
‘Of course, it was difficult. I had to learn the language. Of course, you go to a new club where you feel slightly lonely at times, where you don’t know everybody, but it’s a transition I knew that I had to make,’ he told Mail Sport during an ESPN media session ahead of El Clasico.
‘I knew it’d be like that, but you go into it with your eyes wide open, and you know that you have to work hard, you have to learn the language, you have to join in with your friends, you have to impress on the football field. So they would be the things that I would be saying to [Alexander-Arnold] if he did go there.’
He later continued: ‘The pressure to succeed is enormous. You know, you have to add to the history of the club you’re joining.
‘Liverpool have got a very wide, successful history. And likewise, Madrid – your job as a new player is to add to the history, is to win another trophy. And the bigger the trophies, the better. And it’s easier to acclimatize when you are successful. It’s easy to win over the fans when you’re lifting trophies.’
Trent Alexander-Arnold has been warned of the ‘enormous pressure’ at Real Madrid
Alexander-Arnold announced his decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the season
Steve McManaman said he felt ‘slightly lonely at times’ during his own stay at Real Madrid
Life in Madrid should be made a bit easier with the presence of Alexander-Arnold’s good friend and England teammate, Jude Bellingham, while La Liga analyst McManaman noted that the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Luka Modric are also English speakers.
McManaman said that it would be ‘very helpful’ for Alexander-Arnold to have Bellingham to lean on, as he looked back at his own move to Real Madrid in 1999.
‘When I arrived there, not a lot of people in Madrid spoke English,’ he said. ‘But as you can imagine, everybody in every restaurant, in every bar, in every hotel speaks English.’
‘… Of course, away from the football whatever club he joined, he would get lots of help, you know, from player liaison officers, just to help him acclimatize and help him, you know, with relocation, etc., etc., but on the field itself, [having other English speakers] will be very handy.’
McManaman, who spent four seasons in Spain, went on to claim that the two clubs are ‘very similar’, after Alexander-Arnold spoke of his desire to leave his ‘comfort zone’ following 20 years at Liverpool.
‘I feel, and even when I go back to Madrid now, they’re both very family- orientated clubs, there’s staff there that have worked at the club for 20, 30, 40, years, which is always a nice thing to see,’ McManaman added.
‘You know, every time you walk around Anfield, or every time you walk around the Bernabeu, there’s pictures on the wall of past history, there’s always ex-players walking around. So I always feel like they’re very close to each other.’
Alexander-Arnold will leave Liverpool with a glittering resume that includes two Premier League titles, one Champions League, one FA Cup and two Carabao Cups.
McManaman, seen in 2002, played for Real Madrid for two seasons after leaving Liverpool
Alexander-Arnold will leave Liverpool after helping the club win the Premier League this season
In a statement posted to social media on Monday, Alexander-Arnold wrote: ‘After 20 years at Liverpool Football Club, now is the time for me to confirm that I will be leaving at the end of the season. This is easily the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life.
‘I know many of you have wondered why or been frustrated that I haven’t spoken about this yet, but it was always my intention to keep my full focus on the team’s best interests, which was securing No.20.
‘This club has been my whole life – my whole world – for 20 years. From the Academy right through until now, the support and love I have felt from everyone inside and outside of the club will stay with me forever. I will forever be in debt to you all.
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‘But, I have never known anything else and this decision is about experiencing a new challenge, taking myself out of my comfort zone and pushing myself both professionally and personally.
‘I’ve given my all every single day I’ve been at this club, and I hope you feel like I’ve given back to you during my time here. From the bottom of my heart, I thank everybody – my coaches, my managers, my teammates, the staff and our incredible supporters – for the last 20 years.
‘I’ve been blessed enough to live out my dreams here and I will never, ever take for granted the special moments I’ve been fortunate enough to have lived through with you all. My love for this club will never die’.
Alexander-Arnold’s status at Liverpool has been a long-running saga, as he allowed his deal to run down in December and was free to speak to other clubs from that point.
Real even tried to sign him early over the winter with an offer of £20million, but Liverpool rejected that offer before going on to clinch the Premier League last week.
Nonetheless, it is expected that Alexander-Arnold will put pen to paper on his Real contract soon and become the club’s newest ‘Galactico’ signing.
