Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid is inevitable: Insulting January bid the first sign that Florentino Perez is locked in on Liverpool star

Madrid's interest in the England international first came to light around a year ago. It was reported in both the Spanish and English press that, after Jurgen Klopp announced he was leaving Liverpool, certain figures in the dressing room were seriously considering their Reds futures. Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Van Dijk were all on contracts due to expire at the end of the 2024-25 season, and there was no apparent movement on extensions. With a new sporting director, Richard Hughes, in the process of being hired and a legendary manager to replace, locking down arguably the Reds' three most important players was not a priority.

And so the Madrid rumours kicked off, though most of the reports were lost in the Reds' managerial hunt. Still, the talk lurked there all the same, and it has only gotten louder since then.

As long as Alexander-Arnold didn't sign a contract, the rumours were always going to continue - and they make a lot of sense. Alexander-Arnold may be a boyhood Liverpool fan and academy graduate, but there is a real finesse to his game that might translate to La Liga. Madrid fans will be watering at the mouth at the prospect of a 60-yard ping from the right-back onto the foot of an advancing Vinicius Jr or Kylian Mbappe. His control on the ball, understanding of space, and ability to orchestrate would be a dream for Carlo Ancelotti's side.

And with Dani Carvajal not getting any younger, Madrid need a plan for the future on the right side of defence. They were only accelerated when Carvajal sustained a serious knee injury two months into the season. The Spain right-back, who finished fourth in the Ballon d'Or after a trophy-laden 2024, might have seen his time at the highest level expire.

Madrid's style when met with such a dilemma is to go and get the best player available. And that's exactly what they are doing once more.

There was a time when Alexander-Arnold's friendship with Jude Bellingham might have made Liverpool fans dream. The two have built a strong relationship within the England squad, and when Bellinghan's future was shrouded in uncertainty following the 2022-23 campaign, it seemed possible that the allure of playing with his best mate from the national tam could draw the midfielder to Anfield. Of course, that didn't happen, and Madrid worked out a deal, paying around £100m to snag the England star.

And so the opposite courtship started. With every picture shared on social media of the pair sharing a laugh, the rumours grew. Bellingham and Alexander-Arnold attended concerts together, and were pictured in public as the rumour mill gathered further fuel. It seems silly, but this is the reality of the sport, and there is no doubt that - privately or otherwise - there would have been some dialogue about Madrid between the two superstars.

Bellingham, too, is the perfect example of how to get it right in a new country. He has excelled since arriving in Spain and could serve as the perfect model for how Alexander-Arnold might do the same.

Regardless of whether Alexander-Arnold was friends with Bellingham or not, there is no doubt he fits the mould of a Galactico signing for Madrid.

It was Florentino Perez, during his first tenure as Madrid president, who promised that every summer the club would try to sign the best player in the world - regardless of cost. And so began the first iteration of the Galacticos as Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham arrived at the Bernabeu. Perez, however, left in 2003, and it is easy to forget that that original side wasn't particularly successful - one league title and one Champions League was a shoddy return for the money invested.

That hasn't put Madrid off, however, and after re-election in 2009, Perez brought the Galactico model back, signing the likes of Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Eden Hazard, before Mbappe arrived this past summer. Alexander-Arnold, while not an attacker like some of those previous headline-grabbers, would certainly be regarded as a Galactico if he were to follow in their footsteps.

There have, admittedly, been misses in the transfer market - ones that have certainly influenced Madrid's transfer policy in the last 10 years. It is easy to forget these days that Barcelona and Madrid were both in the hunt for Neymar from Santos in the early 2010s. For a while, it seemed a dead heat between the two Spanish giants - a footballing rivalry played out in the transfer market. Neymar, of course, chose Barca, and enjoyed four immensely successful years in Catalunya before making an ill-advised move to Paris Saint-Germain.

Madrid's moves ever since then suggest that they were deeply scarred by that experience. They have beaten Barca to pretty much every major Brazilian youth talent in recent years, signing Vinicius, Rodrygo, Reinier Jesus and Endrick for a combined €160m. There is scattered talk that they might be after another youngster in Palmeiras centre-back Vitor Reis, too.

Alexander-Arnold is not a Barca target. They cannot afford him, nor has there been any indication that they have made any attempts to engineer any sort of move. But the Blancos psyche is still very much at play here. They have done their utmost in recent years to ensure that they don't miss on their primary targets, and when Perez locks in on a player, he very rarely misses.

Of course, there's an outside chance that Madrid might have been scared off by Alexander-Arnold's dire performance against United, but their bid earlier in the week was undoubtedly a statement of intent. Los Blancos aren't stupid, they will have known that Liverpool were not going to let their right-back leave in January for such a derisory fee. The fact is the Reds are more likely to let him depart for free than cash in and risk losing out on the Premier League title. They have, for what it's worth, reportedly offered Alexander-Arnold a massive £78m contract to convince him to stay.

Madrid's offer, then, was more of a warning to Liverpool, suggesting that they know they've got their man, and merely wanted to let the Reds recoup a bit of cash - while Madrid fill their own Carvajal-shaped hole for the second half of the campaign - before Alexander-Arnold is stolen away from Anfield in six months time.

This, then, is perhaps the worst case scenario for Liverpool. In the past, this could all be played out in the shadows. Arne Slot could bat questions away, deflect contract chatter, and focus on football. The same could be said for Alexander-Arnold, who has repeatedly insisted that his focus remains on this season. But that becomes a lot more difficult when interest from the biggest club in world football becomes concrete.

Now, it's a destabilising force, something that could knock Alexander-Arnold off his game. It is perhaps too harsh to say that his head is already in Madrid; Alexander-Arnold is an excellent footballer who had one bad game. But those performances become more and more relevant as the clock ticks down towards June 30. And until a decision is made - at least in public - there will remain the prevailing sense that a switch to Madrid is a certainty.