Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer both defended Trent Alexander-Arnold following his summer move to Real Madrid, particularly impressed with his Spanish skills at the unveiling.

Newcastle legend Shearer responded to critics over the player's language skills, something which has angered Liverpool fans, bluntly questioning: "So what?"

Alexander-Arnold sealed a deal to join the Bernabeu outfit and chose not to renew his Liverpool ties after the season's conclusion, despite winning a second Premier League title with the Reds.

While some Liverpudlians were left feeling sour, suspecting that Trent's mastery of Spanish hinted at a well-planned exit from Anfield, others marvelled at his linguistic prowess as he chose to engage the Madridistas in their tongue rather than throw out the usual "Hala Madrid."

Harvey Elliott risks wrath of Liverpool fans after making Florian Wirtz claim	Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer speak out about Trent Alexander-Arnold – 'So what?!'	‘Good for him!’ – Alan Shearer and Gary Lineker comment on Trent Alexander-Arnold unveiling

Lineker, who knows the allure of playing in Spain very well from his Barcelona days, couldn't help but praise the young England full-back's speech on the The Rest Is Football podcast where he features alongside Shearer, Micah Richards and Alex Aljoe, remarking: "His Spanish was pretty good, wasn't it boys?"

"Quick mention for him by the way.

That was genuinely very, very good Spanish.

And even if he was reading it, his pronunciation was really good, wasn't it?"

?

I just want to defend him because I wrote on social media that I was really impressed and got so many comments below saying, 'Oh he's only been learning for the last five years.'

"But for him to stand up and speak in Spanish...

But in terms of day to day conversations, it's easy."

He explained this on the Real Madrid YouTube channel.

He added: "I have a decent base level of Spanish so I can hold a decent conversation with the lads and likewise they have a very good understanding of English so it's easy to communicate."

The 26-year-old has been getting to grips with training under new Madrid boss Xabi Alonso and might make his debut for Los Blancos in their upcoming Club World Cup clash against Al-Hilal on Wednesday.

Madrid shelled out approximately £8.4 million ($11.3 million) up-front to Liverpool to secure Alexander-Arnold's services ahead of his contract's end on June 30, allowing him to play in the tournament.


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