Steven Gerrard has delivered a blunt and uncompromising message to Trent Alexander-Arnold, in which he emphasizes that he would never have left Liverpool in the same way as the wing defender and reveals that even he once felt the magnetic attraction of Real Madrid during José Mourinho’s reign.
The departure of Alexander-Arnold during the summer still is one of the most controversial steps in the recent history of Liverpool. The right back rejected a new contract on Anfield, which ended a twenty -year collaboration with his youth club, and joined Real Madrid with what amounted to a free transfer. Liverpool eventually received only £ 10 million in compensation
It was a nominal amount for a player who had become synonymous with the modern identity of Liverpool. The summer room of the former Vice-captain of Liverpool still hurts, because he was a player of which many thought he would wear the bracelet permanently one day.
For Gerrard, the subject affects loyalty, legacy and the thin border between ambition and betrayal. Few figures from the football world have more authority about this subject than the Liverpool legend. He understands the attraction of the European elite clubs better than most clubs, but he also knows what it means to stay and build a legacy on Anfield.
“This is me, who is currently appealing without my Liverpool hat. Real Madrid came up with Mourinho, seriously for me. And it turned my head around,” Gerrard admitted in the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.
“It didn’t get as much traction and noise as Chelsea, because it was stopped fairly quickly because of its timing and what Real Madrid wanted me to produce that. So it never got the traction or sound, but it turned around. It certainly turned around. It is Real Madrid.”
Gerrard has been in the shoes of Alexander-Arnold. He understands the magnetic attraction of the Bernabéu, the glamor of the Galácticos and the feeling that the largest stages in Europe offer the fastest route to individual glory. But he also understands the responsibilities associated with wearing the Liverpool badge.
Every player who participates in the match like Barcelona and Real Madrid will turn your head around. When they come, it doesn’t matter who you are, it will turn your head around. Or you are not a person, “said Gerrard.
“I can understand it because I am in Trent’s shoes. I get it. His best friend plays there. Maybe he wants to challenge himself. He has won everything at Liverpool. So some of me really understands.”
Liverpool supporters had to endure painful exits before Luis Suárez, Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling, but only a few touched the fan base with the emotional weight of the move of Alexander-Arnold. This was not a marginal player, nor a fading star. This was a local boy from West Derby who came to the Liverpool Academy at the age of six, climbed by the ranks and a talisman figure was under Jürgen Klopp.
The right back had won everything that Liverpool had to offer: Glorie in the Premier League, victories in the Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup medals and a place in the English selection. He had even openly spoken about the fact that one day he would be captain of the club, and his words about loyalty and winning on Anfield ‘meant more’ were stuck in murals and songs throughout the city.
And yet Alexander-Arnold let his contract go quietly in June and fled to Spain for a fraction of what he could have got a few years earlier.
“As soon as I set up my Liverpool hat again, I think: what are you doing?” said Gerard.
“You may be one of the best teams in Europe. You win things that I am here now and of which I still dream to win. You win Europe Cups. You are one of the most important men. The fans love you. What are you doing?”
Gerrard’s words were pronounced without malice – it expresses a deep affection. He has seen Alexander-Arnold grow from talent on youth academy to playmaker of World Class, a football player whose passing range he places next to Beckham and Scholes. But there was also an unmistakable warning.
“To leave Liverpool Football Club where he was in his best years, and was offered a new contract … In my opinion he took a risk,” added Gerrard.
“And I think he is running that risk now. I hope it works for him, because I love the child. I love the child dearly. I wouldn’t have done it.”
Gerrards own career provides insight into the dilemma with which Alexander-Arnold was confronted. In 2005, Chelsea made an £ 16 million bid for Liverpool’s leader, only a few months after the dramatic final of Istanbul. Gerrard admits that it “turned his head around,” but he finally chose to stay on Anfield. The decision raised him from Held to immortal in the Folklore of Liverpool.
“It didn’t get the traction or sound, but it turned my head around. Real Madrid and Barcelona, they are two giant clubs,” said Gerrard.
“But I stayed. And stay, that makes you a legend at a club like Liverpool. I would never have left the same way as Trent.”
Gerrard nevertheless emphasizes that he can empathize with the decision of Alexander-Arnold. He recognizes the attraction of ambition, the desire to challenge himself, and the fact that the switch from the Spaniard entails the chance to test itself at one of the world’s largest clubs.
“I can understand it because I am in the shoes of Trent. Maybe he wants to challenge himself. He has won everything at Liverpool. There is a part of me that it really understands,” said Gerrard.
“But with my Liverpool hat again … it is difficult. It is very difficult.”
Many Liverpool fans were shaking by the move. Some even chased the defender when he got off the bank in the last months of last season. However, Gerrard makes a clear distinction between constructive criticism and abuse.
“The next person who flirts with Real Madrid or Barcelona or Bla, Bla, Bla, gets a stick,” he said.
“We play a game where millions of people pay good money … you get a stop. But the stick that crosses the border, the abuse I don’t agree with. That’s just a lot of junk. It has to stop.”
Fans, he added, have the right to express their opinion, especially if they invest time and money in following the progress of a player.
“It is the same people who watched the goals of Trent on the phone or spend three thousand dollars to go to Dortmund to see Trent score a free kick,” said Gerrard.
“They are the same people who love him, who spend 90 pounds on a shirt. You have to accept it, continue. And he did that too.”
Gerrard acknowledges that Alexander-Arnold is taking a big gamble. Moving from a club where he is worshiped and is integrally, to a new country, a new competition and the shine of one of the most intense fan bases of football, is a leap in the unknown.
“I just think he has taken a great risk. He is an extremely good football player, a very talented football player. One of the best passers -by I have ever seen, and I played with some good passers -by,” said Gerrard.
“He is standing there with them. He is in conversation with Beckham and Scholes, no problem. But to leave Liverpool in his best years, when he got a new contract, he took a risk in my opinion. And I think he is now alive. I hope it works for him, because I love the child. I would not have done it.”
The debut season of Alexander-Arnold in Madrid was far from perfect. In the eighth minute of his LA Liga opener against Real Sociedad, the defender ran out a hamstring injury and is expected to return until November. Despite all the glamor of the Bernabéu, the largest football stage brings new pressure, and Gerrard knows first -hand how players are judged when they leave the nest.
“He is good enough to make it work. He is good enough to make it work. I wouldn’t have done it. But he has the talent, the mentality and the ability. We will see if it all comes together,” Gerrard concluded.
In the end, the story of Alexander-Arnold is still written. The talent is not to be denied, the potential is huge, but whether this daring step will take him to the heights that he dreams of, or put him in the test for ways he has not yet seen, time will learn.
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