How Richard Hughes RUINED Trent Alexander-Arnold's start at Real Madrid | OneFootball

Most of the Liverpool alumni are highly regarded - after all, they're forever a part of the Anfield family, but some don't quite get the same reception from the fans once they've moved on.

As a result of the decisions he made in the last year of his time on Merseyside, academy graduate Trent Alexander-Arnold falls into the latter category. He intentionally ran down his contract in order to force a move to Real Madrid and the fans were bare-face lied to when he was asked about his future.

🔴 Shop the LFC 2025/26 adidas home range

🚨2025/26 LFC x adidas range🚨

LFC x adidas

Shop the away range TODAY

LFC x adidas

Shop the home range today!

LFC x adidas

Shop the goalkeeper range today

LFC x adidas

Shop the new adidas range today!

Old ambitions of captaining his boyhood club and spending the entirety of his career at Liverpool were replaced by an egotistical fantasy to join a European rival. "It means more" meant nothing at all.

Prior to his exit, the fans voiced their hatred for his actions and he's set for an incredibly hostile atmosphere when Los Blancos visit Anfield for yet another a Champions League clash in November.

🔴 Shop the LFC 2025/26 adidas away range

Trent has struggled to adapt to life in Spain so far, having been displaced by the Dani Carvajal in the starting XI, a veteran player whom he was supposed to be succeeding and it has now been revealed that Richard Hughes - the Reds' sporting director - has directly contributed to his humbling.

Hughes and Trent's £10m parting gift

Liverpool were anticipating to receive nothing for Trent's departure. After all, he intentionally crafted his situation for his new suitors to sweeping him up for free, refusing every contract offer we made.

But a last gasp opportunity to secure a fee for him, albeit a significantly lower one than most had hoped, meant that he was not given his wish. The Club World Cup was set to begin three weeks prior to Trent's deal expiring and Real Madrid wanted him to feature in the group stages for them.

As such a £10m agreement was reached - one of the deals of the summer - and the player was allowed to withdraw from Merseyside earlier than expected, much to the joy of the Liverpool fans.

However, while it might have initially appeared as though everyone benefited from the move, Trent actually came out worse off than if he had stayed. The move has ruined the last few months for him.

According to Sam Wallace at The Telegraph, the right-back was approached on the May 26 bus parade by Liverpool's executives and told that he'd be leaving earlier than he thought.

Trent had previously been under the assumption that his season had finished, only to be surprised with his dream move to Real Madrid earlier than he wanted it. A Club World Cup had to be played.

In spite of struggling towards the end of the 2024/25 season with an ankle injury, where he hobbled around in the Leicester City (A) and Tottenham (H) matches, he might have been hoping to spend some time recovering in the off-season, but five games in FIFA's revamped competition led to the injury becoming aggravated once again, stopping him from featuring in the semi-final against PSG.

Between July 9 and August 12, the full-back was finally treated to a break before pre-season began and it is believed that this mini period of time off has meant he is still short of the ideal match fitness.

Fans might spend their evenings 'hate-watching' the player since the animosity towards him is unlikely to dissipate anytime soon, but it's now been confirmed that Liverpool got the last laugh in the end. Eventually, he might find his feet in the Real Madrid setup and perform to the level we've seen him deliver over the past eight years, but he's going to suffer before he's back on track.

Of course, everyone's got their own opinion of Trent's actions and he's viewed in a lot of different ways now everything has cooled down, but he did attempt to leave the Reds with nothing to show for his transfer and Richard Hughes scuppered those plans. The £10m parting gift was a masterclass.