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Liverpool’s Trent Situation: A Decade in the Making?
In Wednesday’s edition of The Daily Red podcast, Dave Hendrick didn’t hold back. With Trent Alexander-Arnold reportedly planning a summer switch to Real Madrid, Hendrick offered a scathing, forensic takedown of the situation and what he perceives as a calculated departure years in the making.
“Trent and his brother have coordinated over a number of years to make this a possibility,” Hendrick claimed, pointing to the four-year contract extension signed by Alexander-Arnold in 2021 as the first signal. “The club offered him five and he signs a four-year deal. Why would he do that? So he can get out of that contract early while still 26.”
The right-back, long hailed as a Scouse academy gem and generational playmaker, could now walk away for nothing. And it’s this that Hendrick – and many Liverpool supporters – struggle to stomach.
Real Madrid’s Role – or Lack Thereof
While the temptation may be to blame the Galácticos, Hendrick insisted this isn’t about Madrid. “Nobody’s angry at Real Madrid,” he said. “The anger is at Trent and his brother and how they’ve acted.”
Trent, according to Hendrick, isn’t taking a pay cut either. Far from it.
“Trent is going to be earning over half a million a week,” he explained, noting that Real Madrid’s bonus structures and likely signing-on fee could net Alexander-Arnold upwards of £50 million across the length of his deal. “He’s not making any kind of financial sacrifice here. He’s going to make more money for playing for Real than he would have for us.”
The notion of a Balon d’Or was also firmly dismissed. “There’s more chance of me winning a Balon d’Or than there is of Trent winning one at Real Madrid,” Hendrick said bluntly, referencing the weight of star power already in place at the Bernabéu.
Legacy, Loyalty and Scouse Humour
Hendrick placed Trent’s impending departure in stark historical context, likening it more to Steve McManaman’s free transfer exit than Michael Owen’s. “We got a transfer fee for Owen,” he said. “He didn’t run down his contract and leave on a free. McManaman did – that’s what Trent is doing.”
Yet, McManaman, Hendrick argues, had far more reason to leave. “Those two had been let down by the club over and over again. Especially McManaman.” Trent, in contrast, has played alongside Liverpool’s greatest modern side, won every major honour, and has never truly carried the team. “He’s never been the best player at Liverpool. Never even been close to it.”
He went on: “At best he’s the third-best player in the team. Mo and Virgil are way clear.”
What Liverpool Fans Deserve
As talk of captaincy demands, buyout clauses and changing goalposts swirled, Hendrick’s criticism wasn’t of ambition but of transparency. “I just don’t like the way he’s gone about it,” he said. “He said he didn’t want it to play out in public – but it’s played out far more than Van Dijk or Salah, both of whom have been clear they want to stay.”
For a player once tipped as a future one-club legend, the silence has been deafening. “He said he thought he could see himself being a one-club man,” Hendrick recalled, “but then he did that interview talking about winning a Balon d’Or and everyone knew – he’s going.”
Liverpool fans aren’t stupid. And while Hendrick applauds the humour seen online – from memes to old Milner corner gags – there’s also a hard truth in play. “You get one career. So make as much money as you can. It’s a short career. I don’t begrudge Trent the money – but I do begrudge the manner.”
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