Liverpool icon Sir Kenny Dalglish has urged fans to respect Trent Alexander-Arnold’s decision to leave Anfield – if he indeed does depart for Real Madrid. The boyhood Kop idol is out of contract this summer and is expected to move to the Spanish giants.
The England international was initially booed by some supporters when making his comeback from injury against Leicester City earlier this month. He duly scored the winner for Arne Slot’s champions.
Indeed he was back in the starting lineup for the 5-1 thrashing of Spurs on Sunday as the Reds confirmed their 20th English league title. Alexander-Arnold was met with rapturous applause during the post-match victory lap.
While celebrating Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah recommitting to the club, Dalglish – also serving as a non-executive director – paid homage to Alexander-Arnold, acknowledging the rarity for a player to remain with a single club throughout their career, hinting at his departure.
“Movement within football clubs, players moving about is just part of the game,” he said. “And the longer you can keep the better ones, the better chance we have of being successful.
“That’s what they’ve done there with the two boys (Van Dijk and Salah). The fans are delighted they’ve signed. And we’ve got to be grateful also for the service that Trent gave to the football club.
“If his choice is to move on, then Trent, thanks very much for everything you’ve done for us. We wish you well for the future because he has made a contribution to the football club.
“I only got to Liverpool through them buying me from Celtic so you’ve got to accept that transfers are part and parcel of it.
“It’s a compliment to people. If somebody gets moved on that hasn’t done so well, they don’t get mentioned, do they? So the people that have done really well are the ones who people say, ‘Well why do they want to move?’ Most people move!
“It’s very seldom now that you get one person who stays at one club for the length of his career.”
The Liverpool legend also praised five unsung heroes of the squad who played their roles in securing the Premier League crown.
“(Wataru) Endo, Endo was coming on at the end of some games and just closing the door,” Dalglish commended. “Everybody that was in the squad, I think they earned the place to be there.
“The young players like Curtis (Jones) – went in against Everton, played right-back and did very well. Harvey Elliott did really well when he was given the opportunities to play.
“(Conor) Bradley did really well at right-back when he had to fill in. I think the youngsters played a part in it as well. I think everybody’s obviously played a part – (Caoimhin) Kelleher coming in, stepping in when he had to and did fantastic. I think he’s a really good goalkeeper so everybody made a contribution.”
Dalglish couldn’t resist a playful jibe about one aspect of Liverpool’s season that left him a tad disheartened – Joe Gomez’s elusive first goal for the club!
“The only thing they could be disappointed with is Joe Gomez as he’s yet to score his goal!” he quipped on Anfield Index’s ‘The King and AI podcast’. “I’d love to be at Anfield to see Joe score his goal! Everybody chipped in and that’s why you get the success because they’re singing from the same hymn sheet and everybody got on with it.”
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