William Gallas believes Trent Alexander-Arnold should leave Liverpool for Real Madrid, claiming any possible departure wouldn’t have any impact on the outcome of the Reds’ season anyway. The England international is out of contract next summer and continues to be linked with a move to the La Liga giants.
The Liverpool vice-captain is yet to report back for pre-season training, having been a member of the England side that lost to Spain in last month’s Euro 2024 final.
However, he is expected back at the AXA Training Centre next week, with the Reds traditionally granting their players a three-week break after their close-season international excursions.
The ECHO has previously reported that Alexander-Arnold has already spoken to new head coach Arne Slot and the pair have briefly outlined their respective plans for the summer.
Alexander-Arnold, according to a number of sources, has also talked up his determination to hit the ground running upon his return to club football and his commitment to the cause for the coming campaign has been detailed explicitly.
Meanwhile, there is no appetite at Liverpool to offload him this summer for what would be a relatively cut-price sale given his contract status, while there has been nothing to suggest Alexander-Arnold is angling to leave or has one foot out of the door.
Consequently, new sporting director Richard Hughes will make resolving Alexander-Arnold’s future one of his first ports of call when the England international returns to club duties this month.
But having seen Jurgen Klopp step down as Liverpool manager at the end of last season, Gallas believes Alexander-Arnold is actually unhappy at his boyhood club and thinks that it is the right time for the Reds vice-captain to leave the club and push through a move to Real Madrid.
“Joining Real Madrid would be good for Trent Alexander-Arnold, it’s a good time to join them,” the former Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur defender told Genting Casino.
“He is 26 and Dani Carvajal is 32 now, it’s a great opportunity to become their long-term right-back. Alexander-Arnold seemed very down when Jurgen Klopp left and it looks like it’s time to join a new club.”
For the record, beyond Liverpool’s desire to retain Alexander-Arnold’s services and the full-back having shown no intention of wanting to leave as things stand, Carlo Ancelotti has already confirmed publicly that he does not expect Real Madrid to sign any further players this summer following the arrivals of Kylian Mbappe and Endrick.
“The squad is closed,” the Italian said earlier this week, seemingly shutting the door on any further arrivals. “There are no departures because everyone wants to stay.”
Meanwhile, Gallas has also written off Liverpool’s hopes of challenging for the Premier League title this season, insisting they aren’t strong enough to compete following Slot’s appointment as head coach with an Alexander-Arnold exit actually having no impact on their campaign as a result.
“Losing Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid won’t impact Liverpool in the title race,” he said. “Because they won’t be strong enough either way to compete with Manchester City and Arsenal.
“They have a new manager and it will take time for him to adapt to a new league. He needs time and Liverpool won’t be a big danger because of that.”
It would appear that Gallas does not spot the flaw in such logic, having suggested a club should weaken itself by selling one of their star players because they’re not ‘strong enough either way to compete’ for the title.
A two-time Premier League winner with Chelsea, one can only assume that the Frenchman was punching the air with glee when Arsenal sold Thierry Henry to Barcelona in 2007 and Tottenham sold Luka Modric to Real Madrid in 2012 as Gallas failed to win any further trophies in his career following his Stamford Bridge exit in 2006.
