Xabi Alonso has told Trent Alexander-Arnold to enjoy his “nice” return to Liverpool as the Real Madrid defender prepares to face his boyhood club for the first time since his acrimonious summer departure.
Alexander-Arnold is likely to receive a hostile reception at Anfield after he angered Liverpool fans by leaving at the end of his contract last season. The England international would have exited on a free transfer but for Real paying an £8.5m fee to cancel his Liverpool contract early and include him in their squad for the Club World Cup.
The 27-year-old was part of a Real delegation that laid floral tributes to Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva outside Anfield on Monday night. The head coach and former Liverpool midfielder Alonso, the defender Dean Huijsen and Real’s director of institutional relations, Emilio Butragueño, were also present. Alexander-Arnold laid his own floral tribute, with a message that read: “My mate Diogo, you are so missed but still so loved. Yours and André’s memories will always live on. I smile every time I think about you and will always remember the great times we shared. Miss you mate every day. Love Trent and family.”
Alonso is guaranteed a warm reception from the Anfield crowd having graced Liverpool’s midfield between 2004 and 2009. He believes Alexander-Arnold should relish facing his boyhood team, if selected. “We haven’t spoken about that precisely [the reception that awaits Alexander-Arnold] but we have spoken about the team and the club,” the Real head coach said.
“He has to have his own feelings and enjoy it his own way. So I am not going to say how he needs to feel it. For sure his history is different from mine, he was born and bred in Liverpool. I remember him from a young age in the academy and then coming to the first team and winning the Champions League. So he needs to enjoy the moment because it is nice to be back.”
The former Liverpool defender’s move to Real has not gone to plan on the pitch having sustained a hamstring injury on his Champions League debut for the club against Marseille on 16 September. He has not played since and has been an unused substitute in Real’s last two games.
But Alonso said: “He is good. He didn’t play [against Valencia on Saturday] because of the context of the game but he is available for any number of minutes. Tomorrow he may play and after the injury he had we need his qualities; he has great qualities. He is in a new stage for him – sporting, physically and mentally. We need to give him what he needs because he is an exceptional player that we have in our squad.”
The Liverpool head coach, Arne Slot, promised Alexander-Arnold a warm reception, but was unsure how the right-back would be received by the home crowd. Slot said: “I can only tell you what kind of reception he gets from me; I have great memories of the player and the human being.
“He was my vice-captain last season and I have memories of working with him which were only positive and have memories from watching him on television which were only positive as well – I can remember multiple great moments of his in a Liverpool shirt. He will get a warm welcome from me. Let’s first wait and see if he is on the pitch tomorrow. How the fans react I have no clue but he gets a warm welcome from me, that’s for sure.”
