Trent Alexander-Arnold has explained why he has opted to change the name on the back of his shirt following his Real Madrid arrival.
Alexander-Arnold, 26, was unveiled as a Galactico on Thursday afternoon, surprising fans as he gave his welcome speech in fluent Spanish.
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It’s not the only surprise the ex-Liverpool right-back has dealt over the past couple days, with it yesterday being revealed that he would ditch his surname in favour of going by “Trent” on the back of his shirt, accompanied by the number 12.
Alexander-Arnold has revealed his thinking behind the name change, saying it was purely to avoid confusion rather than a personal rebrand.
“Quite an easy explanation,” he said at his press conference. “I’ve always found when I travel to Europe that the whole name situation confuses a lot of people, as there being three names and double-barreled.
“People call me Arnold, people call me Alexander, people call me Alex, people call me Trent, there’s a lot that goes on. So I thought let’s make it easy, Trent on the back, and be known as Trent. That’s my name so I guess that’s what people will call me.”
Alexander-Arnold added that his dilemma over his future was never a question of where to go, admitting he would only ever leave Liverpool for Real Madrid.
“I knew for a long time that I would only leave Liverpool for Real Madrid,” he said. “No one else. It was never a question of: where do I go? It was always: do I go to Madrid or not? Making that decision wasn’t easy.”
He also clarified that by saying he had waited a long time to complete a move away from Liverpool, he didn’t mean he’d been seeking a new club for “years”.
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“To clear that up, by waiting a long time I mean a couple of weeks,” he added. “Not years.
“But I am very excited be here. Whether you support the club or not, you have to respect the trophies that the club win. No matter what, that has been always there for me. I have always admired players and clubs that win trophies.”
The 26-year-old arrives after 20 years at boyhood club Liverpool, joining for a fee of £10m to ensure his participation at the Club World Cup.
The right-back was expected to sign for free at the end of June after opting not to extend his contract at Anfield, an announcement which was made at the beginning of May.
Alexander-Arnold was instrumental in Liverpool winning Europe’s most prestigious trophy that year, and later added two Premier League titles, two Carabao Cups, an FA Cup and a Club World Cup to his accolade collection across 354 appearances.
The Liverpudlian left his home side on imperfect terms, with his first appearance after announcing his departure seeing him booed by the Anfield faithful. However, as he collected his Premier League winners medal on the final day of the season, a teary-eyed Alexander-Arnold was met with cheers in what was heart-warming send-off.
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