There's plenty for Trent Alexander-Arnold to weigh up
Michael Owen has told Trent Alexander-Arnold he'll be losing more than just home comforts if he leaves Liverpool.
Alexander-Arnold, whose contract is up at season's end, is rapidly approaching a career crossroads. A free transfer is on the cards, and Real Madrid, who Owen joined in an £8million move in 2004 after 158 goals in 297 games for the Reds, is the likely destination in that scenario.
Despite not regretting his departure from Anfield, Owen advised Alexander-Arnold to ponder the repercussions for his legacy. He told the Liverpool Echo: "I can assure you I was as loyal and committed and everything else as the likes of Trent and [Jamie] Carragher and all these people.
"But you lose a little bit of control and things happen. Then you've almost gone into career mode and right, I've got to stay at the top, I've got to do this, I've got to keep my England place. All these other factors start coming in.
[
Jamie Carragher sends frank warning to Trent Alexander-Arnold over Real Madrid transfer](https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/liverpool-carragher-alexander-arnold-transfer-34349771)
"Whereas when you're at Liverpool, when you're at your boyhood club, it just all happens in front of you. You've got no decisions to make, just keep getting out there and playing football. It's all different."
Owen, whose legacy at Liverpool was damaged beyond repair by his move to rivals Manchester United in 2009, understands the fans' feelings. "I get it; I'm not stupid," he admits.
"Someone would say, 'But he (Alexander-Arnold) won't go to Manchester United or he won't do this or he won't do that', but I didn't expect to either."
Owen doesn't take the negative views to heart, adding: "Circumstances will dictate how people are viewed. I can go back to Anfield and listen to the crowd, the Kop singing for players that played 10 games and were pretty average for Liverpool, but because they've got a catchy name, they get sung to all the time and people have this assumption that they are great for the club.
Michael Owen left for Real Madrid in 2004 after running down his deal
"All of us ex-players are baffled and actually giggle at certain things like that. Listen, football can be so much as what happens on the last bloody game of your career.
"You can go throughout your life and be absolutely extraordinary and do everything for a club, but the one little moment, people half remember that. It's pathetic in many ways, but that's it, isn't it? That's life."
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