Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has offered a new explanation as to why Trent Alexander-Arnold may have decided to join Real Madrid instead of staying at Anfield. It was confirmed earlier in the week by several sources that the Englishman had agreed a deal to send him to the Spanish capital next season after his contract expires in the summer.
There have been several ideas as to why the 26-year-old would be so keen to explore a move away from his boyhood club, especially after hinting in the past that he couldn't picture his future away from Merseyside. However, Carragher believes that reasons beyond football may have influenced the defender's decision to make the move.
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Alexander-Arnold's Madrid Move 'Brand' Motivated Claims Carragher
The pundit spent his entire career at Liverpool and believes that the player's branding is important to him
In a recent appearance on the Overlap's Stick to Football podcast, Carragher spoke about Alexander-Arnold's departure and discussed how a move to Madrid may help the player's own 'brand', which he believes is part of the reason why he has decided to make the switch. Similar sentiments were made towards David Beckham in 2003, and Carragher pointed to one interview that the Liverpool defender did earlier this season that may have proved his point:
"I think Trent is a player who looks at himself almost like a brand, and that’s not just him, a lot of players do now. I go back to an interview he gave on Sky Sports before Christmas, where he was given five options on which he’d pick as the most important for you – captain of Liverpool, win the Champions League with Liverpool, win the World Cup with England, or win the Ballon d’Or – and he chose the Ballon d’Or.
"He wanted to be the first full-back that won the Ballon d’Or, and there’s nothing wrong with having ambition, but that didn’t go down particularly well with Liverpool supporters."
Carragher also spoke on the reaction to the news regarding the England international's future, specifically the fact that he has chosen to go on a free rather than let his boyhood club cash in on him. The 47-year-old claimed that he wasn't upset about this though, given that Alexander-Arnold cost the club nothing in the first place.
"It seems like there’s not one thing people are unhappy with – it’s leaving on a free or that he should have come out and told the club earlier," Carragher stated. "I’m not angry about him going on a free. In an ideal world, Liverpool would get £70m or £80m for him to reinvest, but you can’t have it both ways as a supporter.
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The 26-year-old is nearing a free transfer to Los Blancos this summer.
"Also, when you’re a local player you don’t cost anything – Trent going on a free is like Virgil van Dijk leaving for £75m, we’d still break even."