Liverpool look set to lose player Jurgen Klopp considers his favourite ever signing

Trent Alexander-Arnold broke down in tears when being interviewed after Jurgen Klopp’s final match as Liverpool manager. The Reds vice-captain had previously admitted he questioned whether ‘it was a joke’ when the German announced he was stepping down back in January 2024.

It was Klopp who gave Alexander-Arnold his Liverpool debut back in October 2016. Since then, he has made 349 appearances for his boyhood club and won every major honour.

“He’s changed my life and everyone around me, my whole family,” Alexander-Arnold told Viaplay after Liverpool beat Wolves 2-0 in Klopp’s final match. “This was all possible through him so I can never say thank you enough for that.

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“He made my dreams come true so there’s a big thank you to him for that. I’m never emotional, honestly. Ask my family, ask anyone, I’m not emotional, I can’t remember the last time I cried.

“Honestly, I haven’t cried in years so this is very, very, very strange for me. It just shows how much he means to me and the club.”

As much as Klopp meant to Alexander-Arnold, the feeling was mutual. The German previously overlooked all his big-money signings at Anfield to choose the academy graduate as his favourite Liverpool signing.

“It’s Trent [Alexander-Arnold],” Klopp told the Pure Football Podcast. “We didn’t have to buy him but Pep Lijnders my assistant brought him around and said: ‘He played No.6 [role] for me. He played full-back, he played right wing, left wing’.

“Then he came and there was only one problem: Trent was not fit enough. But he was a kid so he was not fit enough but we saw immediately, wow, football-wise no doubts.

“But [he was] not fit enough so we had to work on that. But then he made steps by himself that were really unbelievable and that was really nice to see. Then he made mistakes and didn’t give up.”

As tears ran down his cheeks at Anfield in May 2024, few would have envisaged that Alexander-Arnold would follow Klopp out the Reds exit door just 12 months later – even though he was then entering the final 12 months of his contract.

But now after a lengthy saga, it appears the defender is closing in on a Bosman transfer to Real Madrid. Having previously dreamt of captaining Liverpool and spending his whole career with the Reds, evidently dreams can change.

Currently sidelined with an ankle injury, it remains to be seen what role Alexander-Arnold can play in Liverpool’s final nine games of the season as they look to close in on the Premier League title.

But with the Reds vice-captain facing backlash from supporters on social media after reports that he was close to finalising a deal with Real Madrid first emerged, it will be curious to see what sort of reception he receives when he makes his playing return in the forthcoming weeks.

Likewise, if the final match of the season at home to Crystal Palace ends with Alexander-Arnold in tears for the second year running, and whether there will the same wave of emotion from the stands, too.

Having kept quiet on his future throughout the campaign, it only adds to supporters’ frustration at one of their own departing for nothing, with the raw, immediate reaction suggesting it may not be a perfect send-off. And it will culminate on what should be a day of celebration for Arne Slot’s men too.

Liverpool will lift the Premier League trophy after their clash with the Eagles on May 25, providing they end the season as champions, of course. With the defender now poised to depart to his boyhood club regardless, only time will tell just how fond his farewell actually proves to be.