Trent Alexander-Arnold is leaving Liverpool. His move to Real Madrid is now all but inevitable. The Premier League champions beat Madrid as recently as November, but the lure of Europe’s most successful club is about more than results on the pitch.

The cachet of wearing the Real Madrid shirt is a curious thing because the power and prestige of playing for the Spanish club appears to have been enhanced as much by the Galactico era as the run of Champions League wins in the generation that followed it.

They are the 15-time champions of Europe, of course. That helps. The legend was forged in the era of Ferenc Puskas and Alfredo Di Stefano in the 1950s. But there was a 32-year gap between the European Cup wins of 1966 and 1998. It did not eradicate the allure.

That Galactico project brought Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham to the club and it has had a lasting impact. “We learned a lot from that period,” Ramon Calderon tells Sky Sports. “Because from a football point of view, it was a disaster.”

But the message that it sent to the world’s elite players endures. The very best, the biggest stars, they play for Real Madrid. In 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo left a Manchester United team that had reached back-to-back Champions League finals. Madrid had not made the quarters in five years.

Calderon was the club’s president during that period. He was involved in bringing in Ronaldo, and Arjen Robben, and Fabio Cannavaro on the eve of his Ballon d’Or win, as well as having been an influential director when Madrid brought in Beckham et al.

He witnessed the impact up close. “Players make more money when the big brands become really interested. Thousands of journalists attended the press conference for Beckham. It was broadcast on the main news in Asia. It is where we are at in football.

“What Real Madrid offer to the players is to get a good image, a good reputation. They know they can get the money they are going to get in another team, of course. But they can also get collective and personal awards. I think that is very interesting for them.”

Ah, that Ballon d’Or. Alexander-Arnold caused a stir when he was honest enough to admit that winning the award was a bigger target for him than the Liverpool captaincy. And no club is more closely associated with that individual gong than Real Madrid.

One might choose to be cynical about Alexander-Arnold’s chances of ever being in the frame for it with Kylian Mbappe and his pals around – he is an exceptional right-back but a right-back nonetheless, But it is clearly in his thinking. A Madrid move elevates. Still.

“Cristiano has won five of them,” says Calderon. “When players come here, they know that they can win the Champions League or La Liga or the Copa del Rey. But they also know that by coming here they can get very close to getting hold of the Ballon d’Or.”

It helps to explain the hysterical reaction from within Madrid when Vinicius Junior was overlooked in favour of Rodri for the 2024 prize. Some interpreted this as evidence of a club that had lost all perspective, still believing the Ballon d’Or to be a mere trinket.

But for its biggest signings, the connection with the award is almost as strong as the famous old Champions League trophy itself. It is part of the story and spectacle of being a Madrid player. Visit the club museum and see those past wins proudly on display.

Sunday 11th May 4:15pm


Kick off 4:30pm

There is another practical advantage of being regarded as the world’s premier destination, a club capable of snatching away the stars of Liverpool and Manchester United in their prime. Madrid can afford to wait. Not for them the bidding wars of others.

Bayern Munich had to part with a nine-figure sum to secure Harry Kane’s services two summers ago. Had they allowed the England captain to run down his contract, it would have brought other suitors to the table and even the German giants could not risk that.

With Madrid, and perhaps only with Madrid, the scenario is different. They have the power. “People say you cannot let him go on a free,” said Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher recently. “If a player wants to leave on a free transfer, nobody can stop them. You can’t!”

The Liverpool legend added: “Were Liverpool really going to sell Trent Alexander-Arnold last summer? Just sell him? Real Madrid might not have even wanted him if it were going to cost them £60m or £70m.” Instead, they simply made it clear they would be waiting.

“In my experience,” says Calderon, “the really top players, they go where they want to go.” This move is a reminder that while Liverpool are champions of England, and another club will become champions of Europe, where they often want to go remains Real Madrid.