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Trent Alexander-Arnold’s Sunday brought two pre-assists, two illustrations of remarkable ball-striking ability. The first showed his skills as a set-piece specialist, the corner that led to Virgil van Dijk’s equaliser against Arsenal. The second was more special, the right-back as a quarterback, with the long-range ball that allowed Darwin Nunez to tee up Mohamed Salah for Liverpool’s second leveller. It was not quite as spectacular as the 70-yard pass for Salah’s Anfield goal against Arsenal last season. It was nevertheless further evidence of a rare ability.
And yet his part in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal may not have been the most notable element of his day. An interview that was aired was notable for his extraordinary ambition. Alexander-Arnold declared he wanted to be remembered as a “legend of the game” and the “greatest right-back to play football”. He wants, he said, to become the first full-back to win the Ballon d’Or.
One interpretation, as the days tick down on his current contract, is that it is a sign his sights are set on joining Real Madrid. The Bernabeu is the spiritual home of grandiose ambition. Equally, any move there should come with the recognition they want the Ballon d’Or vote channelled towards their chosen candidate and, for the foreseeable future, that is likely to be either Vinicius Jr or Kylian Mbappe; Jude Bellingham has been careful to back the Brazilian to win it this year. Real’s current right-back, Dani Carvajal, won Euro 2024 and scored in the Champions League final, but scarcely felt the club’s nomination for the personal prizes.
But Real’s status – or reputation, anyway – as the biggest club in the world can act as a marketing tool. If they feel like the ultimate destination club, if Real has become a byword for greatness, it can give them a magnetic allure. And, in Alexander-Arnold’s case, it feels as if the mood music has shifted in the last 12 months. Of Liverpool’s contract three, the trio who could be available next summer, Van Dijk feels the likeliest to stay, Alexander-Arnold probably the likeliest to go, with Salah somewhere between them. A year ago, it was easier to envisage the Merseysider being a Liverpool lifer. He was buoyed by being granted the vice-captaincy, positioning him to become Van Dijk’s eventual successor. If Alexander-Arnold’s burgeoning friendship with Bellingham may have altered the equation, along with Jurgen Klopp’s departure, there are other factors to consider.
One is that Alexander-Arnold is trying to improve under Arne Slot’s tutelage, asking the new head coach to criticise him in front of his teammates, sounding like a perfectionist. “I would like to be the defender that no one wants to come up against in Europe,” he said last month, again unafraid to appear ambitious. That aspiration was evident last season: if others felt Liverpool were in transition after finishing fifth in 2023 and losing much of their midfield, he had his sights set on winning the title.
It is worth noting the comments he made while on international duty earlier this month. “I’ve entered the prime of my career right now and I don’t want to be the player who only won trophies when he was young,” he said. He was the youngest player to appear in three Champions League finals, a winner of the competition at 20. He turned 26 three weeks ago: since his 22nd birthday, he has only won the FA and Carabao Cups and the Community Shield.
There was much to like about Klopp’s “Liverpool 2.0” and about Slot’s smooth start. One interpretation, though, is simply that they came third last season and may well do so again. While contracts mean uncertainty shrouds Liverpool, there is a sense in which Alexander-Arnold is Anfield’s answer to Ricky Ponting, the youngest member of a great team, wondering what comes next as his colleagues leave the stage to ensure a collective decline. Now the other remnants of Klopp’s champion side – Salah, Van Dijk, Alisson and Andy Robertson – are all in their thirties. From George Best to Wayne Rooney, there are precedents of prodigies who won far more in the first half of their careers than the second.
There is the example of Steve McManaman, who left Merseyside for Real at 26 and won two Champions Leagues, and of Steven Gerrard, who stayed and became arguably the finest player in Liverpool’s history, in part because of loyalty and longevity. There were times when there was a self-sacrificial air to Gerrard but he remained for a greater good.
Alexander-Arnold’s comments may suggest he belongs to a more individualistic age, looking for personal trophies and accolades. He seemed Gareth Southgate’s fourth-choice right-back at times. To be the greatest ever, then, shows a vaulting ambition but also a refusal to be satisfied by being merely good or very good. It reflects, too, the peculiarities of the position. Some of the best-ever right-backs, such as Lilian Thuram, Philipp Lahm, Gianluca Zambrotta, Javier Zanetti, Giuseppe Bergomi, played swathes of their careers elsewhere. Others, such as Cafu and Carlos Alberto, were defined more by international football than the club game. When Jamie Carragher recently selected his all-time Liverpool 11, however, he picked Phil Neal ahead of Alexander-Arnold, citing the older man’s four European Cups.
If the 26-year-old is looking beyond Anfield, he may not change the game, as he hoped to, because his game is inimitable. It is harder for a right-back to use him as a role model when they lack his passing range. He may hope to be a one-off in another respect, the Ballon d’Or-winning full-back. But even if it was a throwaway remark, it sets the scene for the biggest decision of his career. Alexander-Arnold wants an environment to match his ambitions.
