Stan Collymore has revealed that he would have jumped at the chance to join Real Madrid if he were in Trent Alexander-Arnold's shoes.
Since breaking into Liverpool's first team in 2016 under Jurgen Klopp, Alexander-Arnold has been a mainstay of the starting line-up. However, with his contract due to expire at the end of June and no new agreement signed, speculation is growing that the 26-year-old England international could make a free transfer to Real Madrid this summer.
Although many fans would be disappointed to see one of the club's most valuable players depart, Collymore, a former Liverpool player, has taken a pragmatic view of the situation. The 54-year-old told the Liverpool Echo: "I think that Trent is a unique one because players make moves all the time, but moving from the club, from the city that you in and that you support to moving to Real Madrid comes across as odd.
"If he wins the double this year, Champions League and Premier League double, I know Liverpool supporters would be miffed, but there's a finite amount of time that you play football. Virtually every player on the planet, when you're a kid – and even when I was a youngster and other leagues like La Liga or Serie A weren't highlighted anywhere near as much as they are now – you grew up and you wanted to play for Liverpool or you wanted to play for Man United, or you wanted to play for Forest or Villa or what have you.
"But even then in the 80s as a child growing up, the one club that was talked about as if it was just this sort of magical thing that you didn't see on tele at all, except if it was a European cup final or a European final, was Real Madrid. And it's just always had that magic.
"The stadium is now arguably one of the best if not the best in the world, you're playing with a lot of the world's best players at any given time. Their history in the Champions League is great, it's the capital of a great country with a lot of benefits of living there.
"So I actually understand any player from any club in Europe wanting to go to Real Madrid, except for if you played for Barcelona of course. And that's happened in years gone by, so... For me, if Trent were to go, and he was to go having won more trophies, I wouldn't begrudge him."
Collymore started his Liverpool career back in 1995 and enjoyed a two-year spell at Anfield, netting 35 goals and making 16 assists before moving on to his boyhood team Aston Villa. When questioned if he would have left his beloved club to play for Real Madrid, the star confessed: "Oh absolutely. I'd have gone from Liverpool to Real Madrid, Villa to Real Madrid.
"It's just one of those clubs that it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to play for a club that reeks of history, tradition and success. So yeah, I don't think any player... unless you played for Barcelona and were Lionel Messi, I think that every player at some point, if you said, 'Would you like to play for Real Madrid?' The answer would be yes."
This advice follows after Real Madrid had a bid around £20million turned down for Alexander-Arnold at the start of the New Year, with no deal eventually coming to fruition. Los Blancos are still on the hunt to replace an ageing Dani Carvajal, who has been side-lined since early in the season due to an ACL injury, and they are free to arrange a pre-contract with Alexander-Arnold given the duration left on his current deal.