Trent Alexander-Arnold has tarnished his Liverpool legacy by leaving for Real Madrid to pursue a Ballon d'Or he's never going to win

During an interview with Sky Sports last October, Alexander-Arnold was asked about his remaining career goals and whether he would rather win another Champions League, become Liverpool captain, lift a trophy with England or win the Ballon d'Or. After a little bit of deliberation, he chose the latter.

"[I want to be] a legend of football, someone who changed the game," he explained. "A saying I have is 'Don't play the game, change the game.' I want that legacy of being probably the greatest right-back ever to play football, to be honest.

"It's only the morning after you retire that you're able to look at yourself in the mirror and say you've given it everything you have got. It doesn't matter how many trophies you win or medals you have got. It matters what you have given to the game and if you reach your full potential. I've heard potential being thrown around with my name since the age of six. If you reach that potential and become the player you believe you can be, which is one of the best ever, then you'll be happy. It doesn't matter how many trophies you win, I guess."

It was at that moment that it became abundantly clear that Alexander-Arnold was bound for Santiago Bernabeu. His focus had very clearly shifted from becoming a Liverpool legend to securing superstar status with Madrid.

Madrid will certainly offer Alexander-Arnold a better shot at winning the Ballon d'Or than Liverpool. Los Blancos are the biggest and best club in the world; they've won more than twice as many European Cups as anyone else. Perhaps most importantly of all, though, they take the Ballon d'Or very seriously. Too seriously, in truth.

Madrid were so incensed by Rodri claiming a narrow victory over Vinicius Jr in last year's vote that they made the embarrassingly petty decision to boycott the ceremony, which not only demonstrated the Spanish side's unrivalled sense of entitlement - but also underlined just how much undue importance they attach to a meaningless individual accolade within a team sport.

However, it's still extremely difficult to see Alexander-Arnold having any chance of actually being voted the best player in the world - even with the support of the incredibly powerful Florentino Perez. Just proving himself the best player at Madrid will be tough enough, as he'll somehow have to outperform Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius for an entire year - from right-back.

A defender's not won the award for nearly two decades (Fabio Cannavaro in 2006), so even accounting for the greater importance of full-backs in the modern game, it would take a truly extraordinary campaign to even put Alexander-Arnold in the mix. Remember, the wonderfully consistent Dani Carvajal won both the Champions League and the European Championship last year - and that twin-triumph wasn't enough to even earn the Spaniard a place on the podium.

In that sense, Didi Hamann has a point when he says, "If winning the Ballon d'Or is the reason that he wants to join Real Madrid, he should forget it and stay at Liverpool!"

In fairness to Alexander-Arnold, he's acutely aware that most people will deem him "deluded" for believing he can win the Ballon d'Or, but that's also kind of missing the point. In his mind, it's not really about whether he lifts the trophy or not, it's about putting himself in the best possible position to do so - and he feels moving to Madrid is key in that regard.

It certainly won't hurt his chances, of course, but the transfer will tarnish his Liverpool legacy. There's just no getting away from that fact.

Although attempts have already been made online to diminish or even erase Alexander-Arnold's role in Liverpool's success under Klopp, his key contribution will never be forgotten. He'll forever be a part of Anfield lore for that quickly-taken corner alone.

Klopp even considers the academy product the most significant addition made to his squad during his nine years in charge - which is some compliment, given Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Sadio Mane, Fabinho and countless other great players were signed on the German's watch.

Of course, Alexander-Arnold's prominent part in one of the most exciting eras in the club's history only makes his imminent departure all the more unpalatable. Some of his fellow fans have already accused him of betraying his childhood club, which upset former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock.

"Can't believe the negativity directed towards Trent Alexander-Arnold... Comments like 'He should be shamed' and 'He's not loyal' are deluded. He's entitled to make his own choices and challenge himself in a different league and different country," Warnock wrote on Twitter. "He's won everything with LFC, been an incredible servant to the club and should be given a great send-off by the fans."

There's just no chance of that happening, though; Alexander-Arnold's exit is too emotive. Because he's not just leaving Liverpool, he's departing on a free transfer.

Jamie Carragher has tried to downplay the significance of Liverpool losing Alexander-Arnold for nothing by pointing out that he didn't cost the club a penny - but that only makes it worse from a financial point of view, given the increased importance of making pure profit on homegrown players in the current economic climate.

The money raised from a sale last summer could have been put towards buying a replacement (which will be costly) or strengthening the squad elsewhere if the belief is that Conor Bradley is ready to fill the void at right-back.

Alexander-Arnold is hardly to blame for Liverpool's loss of revenue, though. Even if he wanted to run down his contract to make himself more attractive to Madrid and maximise his potential earnings at the Bernabeu, he could - and indeed should - have been prevented from doing so.

Unlike both Salah and Van Dijk, who were also set to become free agents before committing their futures to the Reds, Alexander-Arnold gave absolutely no indication that wanted to stay at Anfield beyond the end of the season. Of the three, he was always the most likely to leave, meaning his situation should have been resolved, one way or another, last summer.

Again, Carragher has insisted that the finger of blame shouldn't be pointed at Fenway Sports Group (FSG) because of the recent upheaval behind the scenes at Anfield, with several sporting directors coming and going - but whose fault is that? The buck always stops with the bosses and no matter what was going on at boardroom level, Alexander-Arnold should have been tied down to a new contract or sold to the highest bidder. People can try to overcomplicate things all they want, but it really is that simple.

The emotions provoked by his departure are obviously far more complex and conflicting. There is gratitude for everything Alexander-Arnold has given to Liverpool. The Reds would not have been the relentless, irrepressible force they were under Klopp without their buccaneering right-back with the killer crosses and frankly ridiculous range of passing.

There is also anger, though, that he's walking away just as he's about to enter his peak years - and at a time when Liverpool have re-emerged as a major force in England and Europe. Alexander-Arnold was meant to help Liverpool beat Madrid, not join them.

Most of all, though, there's just a sense of sadness that such a beautiful Liverpool love story is going to have such an unhappy ending. One-club men are few and far between these days, but Alexander-Arnold looked like he was going to be one of them, the Reds role model that blazed a trail all the way from the academy to Anfield.

He once claimed that the trophies won under Klopp were of greater value than those claimed by Manchester City during the same timespan because "We're up against a machine that's built to win." And yet now he's joining state-supported Madrid, the richest and most successful club in the Champions League.

The move makes no sense in that regard. But then, as Alexander-Arnold said himself, he's no longer driven by winning trophies with a particular team. This is purely about achieving personal goals now. There's nothing strange or unusual about that, of course. The majority of modern footballers think the exact same way.

The supporters are still going to be upset, though. The best that Alexander-Arnold can now hope for is a respectful farewell during the final weeks of the season given he has been negotiating a transfer to Madrid while Liverpool were fighting for the title, thus creating a wholly unnecessary distraction.

The Reds' deep-rooted resentment is also understandable. Trent was one of their own, the local lad living the dream, a shared dream. Alexander-Arnold realised his, though, and now he's got himself a new one.

In his eyes, pursuing the Ballon d'Or in Madrid means more than wearing the captain's armband at Liverpool. Unfortunately, he'll never get his hands on either - and only Alexander-Arnold will know when he looks in the mirror after retiring if it was a sacrifice worth making.