By Faith Barbara N Ruhinda Updated at 1452 EAT on Monday 5 May 2025

The full-back feigned to leave a corner before quickly stepping back to sweep the ball towards Divock Origi in the penalty area. The Barca defence had switched off, allowing Origi to make it 4-0 and secure Liverpool a remarkable 4-3 victory on aggregate.

Liverpool went on to beat Tottenham in the final and Alexander-Arnold’s quick-thinking has already been immortalised in a banner on the Kop.

Late in 2019, Liverpool were the Champions League holders, had added the Uefa Super Cup and were the Premier League leaders. Then in their first game since winning the Club World Cup that December, Alexander Arnold demonstrated his importance to the team during their trip to Leicester.

He put in a superb performance against a side who were second in the Premier League table, claiming two assists, helping the Reds claim a clean sheet and firing in the final goal in a 4-0 victory. They went on to win their first league title in 30 years.

Our very own Phil McNulty said that Alexander Arnold’s bare-chested celebration after scoring the winner at Leicester last month will become an iconic image of Liverpool’s march to the Premier League title.

This could be the right time to remind ourselves just why Trent Alexander Arnold has a mural devoted to him on the streets surrounding Anfield..

You know you have made it at a club when you have a mural dedicated to you on a prominent building somewhere close to the stadium.

It is almost always a homegrown player a unique gesture made by the club or its supporters to one of their own.

Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford has one, Tottenham honoured Harry Kane in this way Trent Alexander Arnold’s is one of many in the city dedicated to past and present Liverpool players and managers.

His mural comes complete with a quote “I’m just a normal lad from Liverpool whose dream has just come true.”

These words have, at times this season, been a source of frustration for supporters as they waited on their homegrown talent to commit his future to the club.

At times that frustration has boiled over, with posters also cropping up on buildings around Anfield questioning Alexander Arnold’s loyalty to a club he joined aged just six.

Yet, equally, there has been an outpouring of support and gratitude for what the 26 year old has brought to Anfield after devoting 20 years of his young life to the Reds as player and supporter.

It’s the lure of a new challenge – the prestige of becoming a Galactico, that is understood to be the overriding motivation for Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Indeed, while he will undoubtedly be well remunerated in the Spanish capital with well placed sources indicating that his basic wage in Madrid will be supplemented by a healthy commercial and image rights package Liverpool were willing to make Alexander Arnold one of the best paid defenders in Premier League history to sign a new contract at Anfield.

But you get the impression that money isn’t the sole driver for Alexander Arnold. He’s won everything there is to win with Liverpool.

He is going out a winner, too; playing a key role in the club’s 20th league title triumph. Winning at Real Madrid puts you on different stratosphere, though.

The lure of Real, even for someone as emotionally attached to his surroundings as Alexander-Arnold is, is hard to resist.

Alexander-Arnold, upon his exit, will relinquish the vice captaincy a role Mohamed Salah is understood to be a prime candidate to fill ahead of next season.

Leaving home will carry an emotional burden but a new challenge is on the horizon for Alexander Arnold.

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