It’s common knowledge among football followers that Jude Bellingham and Trent Alexander-Arnold are close friends away from the pitch in addition to being England teammates, and it seems only a matter of time before they’re united at club level also.
The Liverpool right-back confirmed on Monday that he’ll be leaving at the end of his current contract, and Real Madrid are reportedly trying to fast-track his transfer so that they can register him in time for next month’s Club World Cup in the USA.
Prior to joining Los Blancos from Borussia Dortmund two years ago, the Three Lions midfielder had been linked with the Reds for several months, with Kopites living in hope that ‘Agent Trent’ could entice his buddy to Anfield. Alas, any such ad-hoc agency work may have been carried out the other way around.
Bellingham dropped subtle Trent transfer hint last November
In a detailed article for the Daily Mail in reaction to the Liverpool vice-captain’s announcement yesterday, Lewis Steele pointed to a subtle signal from Bellingham on the eve of Real Madrid’s Champions League clash against us last November which ‘gave the game away somewhat’.
In the pre-match press conference 24 hours before the match, the 21-year-old replied to a question about Trent’s future with a diplomatic answer about how it’d be “disrespectful to talk about” the possiblity of the right-back joining him in the Spanish capital.
However, as the journalist noted from the facial expressions of the England midfielder, ‘you could tell in his eye that Bellingham knew the direction of travel then, as did pretty much most of the room’.
Bellingham and Trent could’ve been in cahoots for several months
After Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Real Madrid in that European fixture, many Reds fans were irked by post-match footage which showed Bellingham making a request to Ryan Gravenberch, who soon re-emerged from the home dressing room clutching a red shirt with the number 66 visible on the back.
It didn’t take a forensic detective to work out that the England midfielder had asked the Dutchman to get him Trent’s jersey, especially when he then handed his own white shirt to our number 38, presumably to pass on to the LFC vice-captain.
One can only guess as to exactly how much influence the 21-year-old’s presence at the Bernabeu has had in the West Derby native’s decision to now leave his hometown club for the Spanish capital, but it’s difficult to escape the hunch that the two players have been privately chatting about the matter for several months.
However painful the reality is for Liverpool and their supporters, we’ve no choice but to plan ahead without the 26-year-old, and reliable reports of a possible swoop for Jeremie Frimpong would suggest that the Anfield hierarchy aren’t wallowing in self-pity.
If Trent wants to jet off to Madrid and work with Bellingham on a daily basis, that’s his choice. Just don’t expect the people he’s leaving behind to be ecstatic about it…
