Arsene Wenger has warned Trent Alexander-Arnold about the dangers of obsessing over the Ballon d’Or and has claimed that Real Madrid approached him “a long, long time ago.”
In his exit announcement video, Alexander-Arnold said that his decision to leave Liverpool is due to him wanting to challenge himself elsewhere and “change environment.”
Many supporters think part of that challenge will be to win the Ballon d’Or, something that is arguably more likely to happen with him in a Madrid shirt than playing in the Premier League.
Earlier this season, Alexander-Arnold admitted on Sky Sports that winning the individual award was a bigger goal for him than becoming Liverpool captain or winning another Champions League trophy.
Former Arsenal manager Wenger has warned the No. 66 about that mentality, though, saying on Bein Sports: “I was never a big fan of the Ballon d’Or because I feel it just destroyed some careers.
“Individual expectation should not be the supreme target, and we are in a society where it’s only about clarification (ranking) of everybody in a sport where the team performance should be more important.”
Wenger has been a divisive figure since retiring from coaching – some of his opinions during his work with FIFA, such as a biennial World Cup, are questionable to say the least.
However, his words ring true on the topic of the Ballon d’Or, which has become a sideshow to a team sport in the modern era, when players are increasingly becoming individual brands rather than squad components.
“Real Madrid approached Alexander-Arnold a long, long time ago”
It is the world’s worst-kept secret that Alexander-Arnold is heading to Madrid, hence why he ran his Liverpool contract down.
To do this, though, he would have needed assurances from Los Blancos that they would be acquiring him once his current deal expires.
It was in the March international break that the right-back informed Liverpool he would be leaving, according to Merseyside journalists.
Wenger was asked whether the Champions League holders had unofficially approached the 26-year-old. He responded with a smile, saying: “Real Madrid approached Alexander-Arnold a long, long time ago.”
It doesn’t take an insider to know that the wheels had been spinning on this move long before, and Wenger explained how he thinks clubs like Madrid are using the Bosman transfer ruling to their advantage.
“I believe that it shows the trend of transfers now and it shows a new trend in the game,” Wenger said.
“There is no transfer anymore for the big, big players. They go all at the end of their contract because the wages are so high that if you want to buy Marcel (Desailly – pundit sat next to Wenger) today, you have to give him so much money that you cannot pay the transfer anymore.
“So what do the big clubs do? They say two years before the end of a contract we want to buy you, we give you these wages and we will try to make an offer to the club.
“If it doesn’t work, we come back next year and if it doesn’t work then, we will take you for free. That is what they (Madrid) did with Mbappe as well.”
