Manchester City will pass their Premier League crown back to Liverpool after holding the trophy for four years. They will be confident of winning it back next year.
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"You’re up against a machine that’s built to win, that’s the simplest way to describe City and their organisation," said Trent Alexander-Arnold last season.
"Looking back on this era, although Manchester City have won more titles than us and have probably been more successful, our trophies will mean more to us and our fanbase because of the situations at both clubs, financially. How both clubs have built their teams and the manner in which we’ve done it probably means more to our fans.”
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Ahh, that old 'it means more' cliche. It fuelled Jurgen Klopp's tenure at Liverpool and you will no doubt hear it repeated when Arne Slot's side deservedly wrap up their second Premier League title in the coming weeks.
The Premier League title is returning to Merseyside after four years away, where the trophy has been under lock and key in Pep Guardiola's office.
Guardiola didn't get involved in the 'it means more' nonsense before last season's City-Liverpool clash when Alexander-Arnold made his provocative comments. They were aimed purely at his own fanbase, who thrive on that identity of being the self-proclaimed best in the country. And that isn't a criticism, it's just part of Liverpool fandom and they've won plenty of trophies on the back of it.
Players like Ruben Dias, Manu Akanji and Erling Haaland hit back at Alexander-Arnold, Haaland in particular declaring that he quite enjoyed winning the treble the year before, while Akanji questioned Liverpool's ability to compare winning titles given the disparity between the sides in the modern era.
It's all part of the rivalry. Alexander-Arnold gave it out, City responded with a not-so-subtle tweet upon winning their fourth title last May which simply said: 'This means four.' And the same slogan was made into a banner for the opening day of the current season at the Etihad, which returned to the South Stand for the visit of Liverpool recently. Both sides used it to fuel their fans - but City will have the last laugh over the comments.
Bernardo Silva, a long-time Liverpool foe for his failure to join in a Guard of Honour in 2020, summed up the rivalry when he slammed Arsenal's cynical tactics at the Etihad in September. "Liverpool have already won a Premier League, Arsenal haven't," he said. "That Liverpool have won a Champions League, Arsenal haven't. Liverpool always faced us face-to-face to try to win the games."
It's a love-hate relationship on and off the field. The two clubs need each other and the 'it means more' narrative feeds into that. The Premier League is weaker this season without a proper title race, however much Liverpool are clearly the best team and will fully deserve their title.
But it isn't all plain sailing at Anfield, and Alexander-Arnold is edging closer to abandoning his boyhood club in the summer. Lifting the Premier League trophy for the second time could be his final act at Anfield as a free transfer to Real Madrid beckons.
Yes, that is the winning machine that is Real Madrid. The same Real Madrid who wield their financial power to attract squads full of Galacticos and the best talent from around the world. The club who would hound you out of the Bernabeu if there was any talk of being happy with not winning as many trophies as their biggest rivals.
So will Alexander-Arnold accept that winning those titles with Los Blancos will mean less?
Of course not, because it wasn't a serious comment in the first place. If he does leave Liverpool it will be in part down to trophies and titles and medals however he spins it. That isn't a problem, of course, but it does fly in the face of the 'it means more' talk.
City's rivalry with Liverpool will be weaker without the Reds' homegrown hero. So will Liverpool's title defence next season. And maybe, too, will that underdog identity that City have laughed at for the last 12 months.