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View image in fullscreenTrent Alexander-Arnold confirms Liverpool exit and is set to join Real Madrid‘This is the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life’26-year-old long been linked with move to Bernabéu

Trent Alexander-Arnold has confirmed he is leaving Liverpool when his contract expires at the end of the season.

The 26-year-old is set to join Real Madrid as a free agent after Liverpool were unable to convince the homegrown talent to extend his highly successful career at Anfield.

Liverpool, who sealed their 20th league title last month, are understood to have offered Alexander-Arnold a new contract that would have made him the best paid full-back in the Premier League and one of the highest paid in the world.

Formal negotiations with the player’s representatives opened once Arne Slot was confirmed as Jürgen Klopp’s successor last year, although Richard Hughes first made contact before officially starting as Liverpool’s new sporting director.

Liverpool were unable to secure Alexander-Arnold on a new deal, however, unlike Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, and the player informed Slot of his decision to leave a few weeks ago.

“After 20 years at Liverpool Football Club, now is the time for me to confirm that I will be leaving at the end of the season,” Alexander-Arnold announced on his social media channels this morning.

But I have never known anything else and this decision is about experiencing a new challenge, taking myself out of my comfort zone and pushing myself both professionally and personally.

View image in fullscreen

“I’ve given my all every single day I’ve been at this club, and I hope you feel like I’ve given back to you during my time here.

My love for this club will never die.”

Alexander-Arnold joined Liverpool’s youth ranks at the age of six and he made his first-team debut in a League Cup tie against Tottenham in October 2016, 18 days after his 18th birthday.

He has gone on to make 352 appearances for his boyhood club, scoring 23 goals and winning the Champions League, two Premier League titles, the FA Cup, League Cup, Club World Cup and Uefa Super Cup.

He has long been linked with a move to Madrid and the sense that he was destined to join the Spanish giants only strengthened after they made a £20m bid for the player on New Year’s Eve that was immediately rejected by Liverpool.

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