Real Madrid is desperate to take Trent Alexander-Arnold to the Club World Cup – the club is even paying a fee for the defender, who is actually on a free transfer.

Normally, the summer and winter transfer periods in football are limited to July, August, and January. However, due to the first-ever Club World Cup, which begins on June 14 and features 32 clubs from all continents, FIFA has introduced an additional transfer window for the first ten days of June.

This is intended to give the Club World Cup participants the opportunity to register new players for the tournament. Spanish football club Real Madrid, which is currently missing several defenders due to injury, has taken advantage of this opportunity by bringing forward the originally planned free transfer of Alexander-Arnold, who was due to be out of contract on July 1st, for a high single-digit million euro sum. Liverpool FC had insisted on this fee for an early release of the right-back. This despite the fact that the English club's season has already ended. Furthermore, the Reds are saving his million-euro salary for June.

Real Madrid's predicament thus allowed Liverpool to receive financial compensation for the player's departure. The 26-year-old had announced shortly before the end of the season that he would not renew his contract after 20 years at the club.

He had already informed club officials of this move in March, but kept the decision secret so as not to jeopardize the club's goals for the past season. Alexander-Arnold cited the desire to leave his comfort zone and further develop himself both professionally and personally. Given his deep connection to Liverpool, both the city and the club, one can believe him when he says the decision was the "hardest decision of his life."

The departure of the homegrown player was particularly painful for the club and its fans. They viewed the Liverpool player as a "one-club footballer" – someone who had spent his entire career at a single club. The fans' self-image regarding players from their own city is exemplified by an old quote from Jamie Carragher. "What's bigger than Liverpool?" the defender once snapped at a reporter who dared to ask him if he'd ever consider moving to another club. Carragher spent his entire professional football career in Liverpool.

Fans had the same hope for Alexander-Arnold. He joined the club's youth academy at the age of six, a fact commemorated until his death by his unusual jersey number 66. Liverpool's homegrown talents who make it to the first team are traditionally given high jersey numbers – Alexander-Arnold has never changed his since.

Since 2016, he formed a right-wing duo with Mohamed Salah for almost a decade. The crossing specialist scored 23 goals and provided 92 assists in 354 competitive matches for the Reds. At the beginning of his career, he euphorically announced that he wanted to win titles, become Liverpool captain, and become a club legend. This would "obviously" not be possible if he were to leave the football club at some point, he added expertly at the time. Since then, he has won every title with Liverpool FC. He was also vice-captain. But lately, not much has been heard about his desire to stay at Anfield forever.

That's why the LFC family felt slighted by Alexander-Arnold and booed him bitterly in the penultimate home game – like perhaps no other of their own players. Suddenly, he was no longer one of the Reds' fans, but rather not one of them. Instead of "You'll never walk alone," as the fans constantly emphasize, Alexander-Arnold's motto on his way to Madrid seemed to be: "He'll walk alone." The club had previously given him a cool farewell in a statement, despite his achievements. And coach Arne Slot thought the good thing about Europe was that everyone could have their own opinion.

The separation between Alexander-Arnold and Liverpool seemed to be leading to an unforgiving end. But one person was unwilling to accept it: former Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, a supporter of Alexander-Arnold. On the evening before the club's final home game, the club's pillar of strength, who now oversees the Red Bull Group's football ambitions , reprimanded the fans' behavior at a charity event. After the boos directed at Alexander-Arnold, he turned off the television; he couldn't have been more disappointed, Klopp said, addressing the Liverpool fans. "Your way of thinking is wrong! That's not us, one hundred percent not." And indeed, Klopp's rebuke had an effect: at the awards ceremony after the match, no name was more euphorically celebrated than that of Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The reconciliation touched the player so deeply that he began to cry in front of the fans. He wiped them away with a tissue – which, in turn, touched Klopp in the VIP box. Alexander-Arnold said he had "never felt as loved and cared for as I did today."

Following the agreement with Real Madrid, Liverpool FC also issued a sympathetic farewell statement. Trent Alexander-Arnold signed a contract with the Royals until 2031. He won't face his old club for the time being, as the Reds are absent from the Club World Cup.