Real Madrid pay £10m to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold early from Liverpool

Real Madrid have reached an agreement with Liverpool in which they will pay the club £10m to sign the right-back ahead of the Club World Cup.

Real Madrid initially offered less than £1m to try and sign Alexander-Arnold ahead of the Club World Cup, a bid that was knocked back by Liverpool.

The deal represents remarkable value for the Reds, who will now pay Alexander-Arnold slightly less than had they kept him for the duration of his contract, at which point they'd have lost the 26-year-old for free.

Much of the furore around the move has come from Alexander-Arnold leaving on a free, denying the club a sizeable transfer fee with which they could have replaced the England international, and while the £10m is a long way below what they could have got, it does take the sting out of the deal somewhat.

Alexander-Arnold will sign a six-year deal, enabling him to play in Real Madrid's three Club World Cup fixtures, as opposed to joining for the knockout stage, which was the initial plan.

If Real Madrid win their group, their first knockout game would come on 1st July - the first day of Alexander-Arnold's new contract.

Real Madrid have struggled at right-back more than any other position this season. Dani Carvajal suffered a serious knee injury in October, ruling him out for the season, meaning Lucas Vazquez was often deployed there.

The 33-year-old hasn't had his finest campaign, and Carlo Ancelotti often deployed Federico Valverde in the position, with Vazquez now set to leave the club on a free transfer once his contract expires.

Xabi Alonso is now in the hotseat at the Santiago Bernabeu, though onlookers remain intrigued at how he'll set his side up.

While he showed a tactical versatility at Bayer Leverkusen, flitting between a back three and a back four, Alonso generally preferred a 3-4-2-1 system, one at odds with Real Madrid's existing personnel.

Whatever system Alonso uses, Alexander-Arnold will be deployed as either a right-back or a right-midfielder, with plenty more reinforcements expected throughout the summer, including former Manchester United left-back Alvaro Carreras from Benfica.

Liam Williams

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