Alexander-Arnold walks on after living the Anfield dream

Full-back did it all for his boyhood club and is off to a new reality where his game will face increased scrutiny

- Andy Hunter

Before basking in the acclaim and adulation of the Kop when No 20 was sealed two Sundays ago, Trent Alexander-Arnold headed for the suits. There was a warm embrace between the Liverpool star and Michael Edwards, chief executive of football at Fenway Sports Group, and another with Richard Hughes, the man who initiated contract talks with Alexander-Arnold's brother and agent prior to starting as the club's new sporting director last summer and has faced a losing battle on that score ever since.

They all knew it was ending, but there were evidently no hard feelings. Liverpool feel they did everything they could to persuade Alexander-Arnold to stay. They offered a new deal that reflected his status as the finest full-back in the Premier League and one of the best in the world. They not only offered success, Arne Slot's team delivered it. But they could not offer a new experience to a player whose stated aim is to win the Ballon d'Or and wants "that legacy of being the greatest right-back to have played football. I have got to reach for the stars".

Strictly business, although losing Alexander-Arnold to the entitled egomaniacs of Real Madrid will hurt, and not only in football terms. Liverpool's sense of being a destination and not a stepping stone has taken a hit despite Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk confirming there is no place their world-class talents would rather be.

The Premier League champions are losing a unique, homegrown asset for nothing. That will sting FSG almost as much as the supporters, who understandably cannot reconcile one of their own wanting to jump ship at any moment, let alone after the high of the club's record-equalling league title. If the Anfield celebrations on the day the championship was secured against Tottenham could not change the defender's mind - and he had informed Slot of his decision to leave in late March - nothing would.