Liverpool: Carragher says Trent can expect ‘same treatment as Suarez’ with ‘simmering resentment’
Jamie Carragher has warned that Trent Alexander-Arnold’s impending free transfer to Real Madrid could leave a stain on the Liverpool defender’s legacy and may even earn him a frosty reception at Anfield in the future.
Carragher, a lifelong Liverpool supporter and club legend, believes Trent Alexander-Arnold’s decision to walk away from the Reds at the peak of his powers, especially on a free transfer, could see his standing among supporters diminish, even if his achievements remain undeniable.
“The leaving of Liverpool is not easy, and nor should it be,” Carragher wrote in his column.
“As a Scouser, for me it does not get any bigger or better.”
Carragher acknowledged the pull of a club like Real Madrid, but suggested that when a homegrown player walks away from one of football’s biggest clubs, fans inevitably feel a sense of betrayal.
“What is gained in the short-term can be sacrificed in terms of a legacy once a career is over,” Carragher added.
“Although it might sound like a cliche to say you are ‘part of a family’ once you are loved by the fans of the biggest, most storied clubs, it is true.
“Real are one of only two clubs to have won more European Cups than Liverpool, so when a top-class academy player makes this kind of a move, there is a simmering resentment from the local fanbase that they are trying to separate themselves from ‘their own’, or think there is something bigger or better out there for them.”
Carragher warned that fans are likely to take Alexander-Arnold’s departure personally, referencing Michael Owen’s fractious post-Liverpool relationship with supporters following his move to Madrid in 2004.
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“Owen is the obvious one. His relationship with the Kop fractured after he left Anfield.”
The former defender added that supporters expect a different level of loyalty from homegrown stars, particularly ones who have spoken of dreams to captain their club.
“Players are loved even more when they genuinely mean it when they say they do not want to play for anyone else.
“If that image of the home-grown talent living the dream is an illusion, people feel let down.
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“Part of me thinks ‘well done’ but the competitive element in me also thinks swapping Liverpool red for Real Madrid white means he has chosen to become a rival.
“It means the next time he is at Anfield he will receive the same treatment as Luis Suarez when he returned to Merseyside in a Barcelona shirt.”
Carragher concluded with a stark message: “With Monday’s statement, the unconditional support Alexander-Arnold enjoyed from the Kop when he was fully committed to Liverpool has gone.”
