Alexander-Arnold reveals he has been waiting ‘a long time’ for Real Madrid move | OneFootball

Trent Alexander-Arnold has shared his feelings after he was officially unveiled as a Real Madrid player today.

The 26-year-old insisted: “It’s very exciting for me. A day that I’ve been waiting for for a long time now. I’m very excited, very happy, very proud to be here. It’s a dream to be here.

“But there is still a lot of hard work to do and I’m excited to get started straight away. It’s an exciting time for me.”

The England international has joined Real Madrid after months of speculation with his Liverpool contract nearing its expiry. He explained: “By waiting a long time I mean a couple of weeks not years.

“Like I said, I’m very excited to be here.

“Whether you support the club or not, you have to respect the trophies, respect the history, that was always there for me.

“I’ve always admired players, clubs, teams that win trophies. I grew up watching this club win three Champions Leagues in a row and two before that.

“I’m no stranger to seeing Real Madrid winning trophies. A big reason why I joined is to be part of that amazing history.”

Alexander-Arnold grew up as a Liverpool fan and spent 20 years at the club. He will now be managed by Xabi Alonso who scored the equaliser in Liverpool’s legendary 2005 Champions League triumph in Istanbul.

The right-back admitted: “I told him (Xabi Alonso) that he was a big idol of mine growing up. So to be able to work with him now is a dream come true for me.

“He’s someone who impacted my game a lot growing up, watching him pass the ball influenced me.

“I’ll be a sponge around him, trying to soak up all the information that I can.”

This move is Real Madrid’s second high-profile signing of an English player in recent years. Alexander-Arnold will join up with international teammate and friend Jude Bellingham, and many have speculated on his influence on the transfer.

Alexander-Arnold revealed: “We spoke but it wasn’t exactly what people think it was. We spoke a lot about Liverpool, we spoke a lot about Madrid. That’s the kind of conversations you have as players, as friends.

“A lot of people think he played a huge part in me coming here. But to be honest, the club speaks for itself. It was a huge opportunity for me and it felt like the right time for me.”

Another motivating factor for his move that has been rumoured, is a desire to claim more individual awards. However the 26-year-old denied this. He maintained: “It (the Ballon D’Or) didn’t influence my decision to come here at all.

“It’s going to be quite hard to win a Ballon D’Or with the amount of superstars that we have in this team.

“It’s exciting, these are the players I want to play with, I’ve played against them and I know how good they are. To be playing with them rather than against them is good.”

His exit from Liverpool sparked backlash from fans and it was not an easy decision for Alexander-Arnold to make. Despite this, he admitted: “I’ve known for a long time that if I was to leave Liverpool it would only be to go to Real Madrid, that is the club for me.”