One Liverpool icon believes Trent Alexander-Arnold has his heart set on a move to Real Madrid next summer – but the grass is not always greener.
There is a scenario where Liveprool lose arguably their three biggest players next summer. Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all out of contract in June with renewals yet to be signed.
The ECHO understands that Salah is desperate to prolong his stay at Anfield, despite admitting on Sunday that club chiefs are yet to approach him over a new deal and so believes this might well be his final season at the club. Meanwhile, a former Liverpool legend fears Salah’s colleague has already made up his mind about an exit.
Graeme Souness believes Alexander-Arnold will be tempted by transfer links with Real Madrid, having won all there is to win at his boyhood club. “Maybe he has made up his mind and that has been relayed to the hierarchy at Liverpool,” Souness suggested.
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“[Slot is] giving [Conor] Bradley chances and keeping him onside, he’s having a good look at Bradley. That would be forward-planning.”
The ECHO understands that the decline of Sadio Mane in Saudi Arabia is putting Salah off a move to the league of riches, and Reds fans would be keen to point out to Alexander-Arnold that the grass is not always greener. There are several examples of players who may have regretted the decision to leave Liverpool for a European rival.
Keegan to Hamburger
Kevin Keegan’s exit to Hamburger SV in 1977 was not the smoothest transition for the Anfield hero. His move was initially unpopular given rules on overseas players pushed out dressing room favourite Horst Blankenburg, which was thought to have created a disconnect with some colleagues.
Supposedly fuelled by frustration at the growing cliques in the dressing room, Keegan was sent off during a friendly midway through his debut season for punching an opposition player and was banned for eight weeks.
Despite later building bridges with teammates through the club winning a first league title for 19 years in 1979 and him earning a second consecutive European footballer of the year award, his fall out with new coach Branko Zebec over training regimes led to his exit in 1980.
Rush to Juventus
Ian Rush left Liverpool for Turin in 1987 but only spent a year out in Italy before returning to Merseyside. The legendary striker admitted to feeling homesick while at Juventus, albeit insisted he still had fond memories of his time there.
“I was homesick at times, but it is one of the best things I’ve done in my life,” he told the Guardian in 2005. “Looking back, Juventus were the right club at the wrong time… But I don’t regret going. My time at Juventus improved me in every way, both as a person and player.”
Owen to Real Madrid
Michael Owen swapped Merseyside for Madrid in 2004 but the move did not turn out as successful as hoped. The attacker did score in El Clasico during his single season in Spain but tallied 16 goals in 45 outings, with only 26 of these being starts. Meanwhile, the Liverpool team he had just left quickly got over his departure by winning the club’s first European Cup for 21 years in Istanbul under Rafa Benitez.
With Robinho and Julian Baptista arriving in the summer of 2005, it emerged that Owen was seeking a return to the Premier League. He signed for Newcastle before moving to Manchester United in 2009 after a hoped route back to Liverpool was closed off.
Torres to Chelsea
Many Liverpool fans were stunned at the £50million fee paid by Chelsea for Fernando Torres in January 2011 given the attacker had experienced a dive in form prior to his exit. Of course, the Spaniard went on to lift the 2012 Champions League with Chelsea, scoring that famous tie-sealer away at peak-time Barcelona.
But given the amount he was bought for at that time, 45 goals in 172 matches did not seem value for money. Aside from his 22 goals in 64 matches during the 2012/13 season, the Spaniard left for AC Milan in 2015.
Coutinho to Barcelona
Perhaps the transfer that Liverpool benefited from most, Philippe Coutinho did not reach the heights expected of him at Barcelona following his £142m switch in 2018. He scored just 25 times and registered only 14 assists in 106 matches, having missed a good chunk of the 2021 calendar year due to a torn meniscus.
Ironically, he won the Champions League while on loan at Bayern Munich the year prior, scoring twice against his parent club in the 8-2 quarter-final mauling, which was played over a single leg amid the Covid pandemic. By then, Liverpool had used the money from his transfer to buy Alisson Becker and Van Dijk…
Mane to Bayern Munich
Liverpool fans were sad to see Mane leave, but understood his career aspirations. However, he would spend only one season at Bayern Munich, scoring just 12 times in 38 matches.
Mane also missed the World Cup in the winter due to a right fibula injury. His exit to Al-Nassr the following summer was partly sparked by an incident with Leroy Sane, whom he punched after a 3-0 Champions League quarter-final loss to Manchester City.
