Trent Alexander-Arnold left Liverpool and completed a move to Real Madrid earlier this month.
The La Liga giants’ plan was to sign him for free when his contract at Liverpool expired at the end of this month. Since they are participating in the Club World Cup, Los Blancos decided to advance this operation.
Several claims from the UK and Spain have stated Real Madrid paid Liverpool to secure the right-back’s early release. Figures for that are put at anywhere from a couple of million Euros to €10m, depending on who you choose to believe.
On Wednesday, the 26-year-old made his debut for Real Madrid in their 1-1 draw against Al-Hilal. He started the tie and was replaced by Lucas Vázquez in the 65th minute.
AS don’t seem to be pleased with the former Liverpool man’s performance as they gave him a blank rating. Raúl Asencio and Jude Bellingham were the only other players to get a blank mark.
As well as Alexander-Arnold, Dean Huijsen also made his debut for Real Madrid yesterday. The newspaper says the two defenders have ‘much to do’ after their debuts.
AS state Real Madrid didn’t pay the fee to Liverpool for the England international so that he can take his time to adapt and adjust in his new surroundings. They did this so that the fullback can ‘terrorise the opposition’ and ‘produce immediately’ at the Club World Cup.
New Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso discussed both Alexander-Arnold and Huijsen in his post-match press and Marca have relayed his comments.
“I’m happy for them and congratulate them on a memorable day for them. Dean was very good, and Trent has gone from less to more. Both of them gave us a significant leap in quality,” he said.