Jamie Carragher thinks Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has made his mind up and will be moving to Real Madrid in the summer.
The Reds have made a great start to the new Premier League season with their exciting 2-2 draw against title rivals Arsenal seeing them drop off top spot.
Arne Slot couldn’t have wished for a much better start as Jurgen Klopp’s successor with the Dutchman winning seven of their first nine matches.
Slot has had to deal with lots of speculation surrounding three of his players with Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk all out of contract at the end of the season.
Liverpool captain Van Dijk said recently that he is in “discussions with the right people” but Salah and Alexander-Arnold’s futures are less clear.
And Carragher has branded Alexander-Arnold’s comments that he would rather win a Ballon d’Or than a World Cup or another Champions League as “bizarre”.
When asked whether he would rather win a Ballon d’Or, a trophy with England, another Champions League or become Liverpool captain, Alexander-Arnold replied: “Winning a World Cup with England – that would be immense and change the game, but I’d say win a Ballon d’Or, because I believe I can. I want to be the first full-back to ever do it.
“It’s only the morning after you retire that you’re able to look at yourself in the mirror and say you’ve given it everything you have got. It doesn’t matter how many trophies you win or medals you have got, it matters about what you have given to the game and if you reach your full potential.
“I’ve heard potential being thrown around with my name since the age of six. If you reach that potential and you know you have and you’ve given everything to maximise that potential and be the player you believe you can be, which is one of the best ever, then you’ll be happy.
“It doesn’t matter how many trophies you win, I guess. Do I have the potential to be that? For sure. I believe it. Some people may call me deluded but I believe I can.”
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And Carragher thinks the Liverpool defender’s “strange” comments indicate that he “is going to Real Madrid” in the summer transfer window.
Carragher told Sky Sports: “He can try and win the Ballon d’Or, there’s nothing wrong with ambition, but my first thought when I read that was ‘you’re not winning the Ballon d’Or as a right-back for Liverpool’.
“Ballon d’Or winners normally play for Real Madrid or Barcelona. That’s where the best players in the world go. If that’s his ultimate ambition, I think he was asked about winning the Champions League, the World Cup or the Ballon d’Or.
“And he chose the Ballon d’Or, which I think is a bit strange or bizarre. I think you would always pick the World Cup or the Champions League, it’s a team game, but he has got massive ambition and why not?
“You only get one career. He is a unique full-back, he’s absolutely amazing and got Liverpool back into the game today with the pass. But the first thing that came to me when I read that interview is that I think he is going to Real Madrid.”
