Trent Alexander-Arnold has sought to explain why he waited to announce he would be leaving Liverpool this summer, with the timeline of his announcement to the club also revealed.
Alexander-Arnold has been with his boyhood club since the age of six and with no contract beyond 2025, the season has been full of speculation and rumours regarding his future.
On Monday that was all settled, with the 26-year-old confirming he will not be reporting back to Anfield next summer – but Liverpool have known since March.
• READ: Every word of Trent’s message to Liverpool fans – explains decision
As per Merseyside reporters, including the Times‘ Paul Joyce, Alexander-Arnold informed Arne Slot of his decision during the March international break, more than six weeks ago.
Why Trent waited to make his announcement
After 20 years at Liverpool Football Club, now is the time for me to confirm that I will be leaving at the end of the season.
This is easily the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life.
I know many of you have wondered why or been frustrated that I haven’t spoken about this… pic.twitter.com/emAw5RvXq0
— Trent Alexander-Arnold (@TrentAA) May 5, 2025
With consistent calls for the right-back to own his decision, he has sought to explain why we had to wait so long for the announcement when speaking to LFCTV.
“Obviously there’s been a lot of noise around what the decision was going to be and how that was going to look,” he said.
“I know a lot of people will say I should have said sooner, a lot of people will say maybe I waited for the right time.
“But I felt personally the focus should always be on the pitch, should always be about the football.
“When we were in a title race and trying to push for trophies, it’s about making the right decision for the team and trying not to distract the team and take away from what we’re doing on the pitch.
“For me, it was always to do it after the season was kind of done; not so much the final game but when there was nothing else really to play for.
“Now that we’ve won the league and we’ve been able to celebrate it and celebrate such an amazing achievement, I felt like now is the right time to get it off my chest and tell the fans the truth, and now is that time.”
Talks with Liverpool ended in March
Alexander-Arnold insisted there was a “a massive possibility” of staying at the club as he has full confidence in Slot’s ability to continue to win silverware, but he “needed” a change.
The Athletic‘s James Pearce adds Slot “expressed his disappointment but said he respected his vice-captain’s decision,” as details of Alexander-Arnold’s decision start to emerge.
Pearce’s report also states that Richard Hughes was notified “around the same time in March” that Alexander-Arnold would not be signing a new deal, which did not come as a surprise after “talks over an extension had effectively ended earlier that month.”
A switch to Real Madrid has not been formally communicated by Alexander-Arnold, but it is only a matter of time.
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