Michael Owen has cautioned Trent Alexander-Arnold that he could lose control of his career if he decides to leave Liverpool for Real Madrid. The right-back’s contract expires at the end of the season, making him eligible to speak with Carlo Ancelotti’s side from January 1.
If he makes the move, the 26-year-old would follow in the footsteps of former Liverpool forward Owen who, in the summer of 2004, completed a high-profile £8 million transfer to Real Madrid after deciding not to extend his Anfield contract. However, while his pursuit of more prestige intensified after the move, Owen quickly learned that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.
The pundit has often shared his feelings of being unwelcome at the club that gave him his career breakthrough. Despite his longing to stay involved at the Merseyside club, where he also won the Ballon d'Or as the last Englishman to do so, Owen now fears his relationship with the club is irreparably damaged. This experience has prompted him to issue a cautionary warning to Alexander-Arnold.
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Owen exclusively told the Liverpool Echo that a slippery slope awaits should Alexander-Arnold's national team bromance with Jude Bellingham materialises into a club affair. "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," he said.
"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. 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’s reputation on Merseyside was soured by his 2009 move to Manchester United. "I get it, I'm not stupid," he said. "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." The pundit doesn’t pay much attention to the sentiment around him, adding: "Circumstances will dictate how people are viewed.
"I can go back to Anfield and listen to the crowd, the Kop singing for players who 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. 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."
Mohamed Salah and club captain Virgil van Dijk are also approaching the end of their contracts. However, the club's hierarchy remains confident about securing renewals for both veterans, who play key roles in the leadership group. The situation is less certain for Alexander-Arnold, though, as the allure of Real Madrid and their ongoing success may be too tempting to resist, especially with Los Blancos’ strong admiration for the Liverpudlian.