Alexander-Arnold will still get a lucrative signing-on bonus even though he's no longer moving on a free
After his move to Real Madrid became official, more details have started to leak about the agreement Trent Alexander-Arnold has reached with his next club.
Liverpool accepted a bid by Real Madrid to allow Alexander-Arnold to complete his exit early, in time for the Club World Cup. Previously, he was on course to join them as a free agent in July. However, the move has gone through earlier, putting £8.4m in Liverpool’s pockets.
The Reds have reacted swiftly, confirming on Friday the signing of Jeremie Frimpong from Bayer Leverkusen to become their new right-back.
Alexander-Arnold is in Liverpool’s past now, but he is set to be a big part of Real Madrid’s future. Now, Spanish sources have explained how much he will receive in a signing-on fee.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Real Madrid will still give Alexander-Arnold the same lucrative signing-on fee as if he had joined on an actual free transfer.
The amount he’s set to receive is in the region of €20m (£16.9m/$22.7m), which the report points out is similar to what Antonio Rudiger and David Alaba were paid when completing their own free transfers to Real Madrid in recent years.
But it pales in comparison to the nine-figure signing-on bonus Real Madrid paid Kylian Mbappe after his free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain last year.
As for a salary, it’s already been reported that Alexander-Arnold is set to earn €15m per season, which comes out at around £240,000 per week, on a deal until 2031.
The move has notably reunited him with England teammate Jude Bellingham, who posted an Instagram story of them both celebrating on international duty with the caption ‘Welcome’ and a white heart.
Real Madrid are making big strides in their defensive evolution already this summer after also activating the release clause to take Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth and making a move to re-sign Benfica left-back Alvaro Carreras.
Jeremie Frimpong: Alexander-Arnold replacement speaks out
While Real Madrid have already paid more than £25m between transfer fee and signing-on bonus to bring in Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool spent £29.5m to replace him with Frimpong.
The new arrival has already revealed to club media how the move came about and what his expectations are.
“It went quite easy,” said Frimpong. “Liverpool came and said they had interest, and obviously for me it was a no-brainer. For me, it was like, ‘Whatever you guys do, just get this done’, [speaking to] my agents: ‘Just get this done.’
“Liverpool fans, I’m going to give my all, my energy, my work-rate and hopefully we can win together, we celebrate together, get everything together.
“I’m just excited to be here. Thank you guys for accepting me and I won’t let you guys down and I’ll give you the energy that you guys want.
“I spoke to the manager a few times. He sounds very positive. He says I can bring a lot of energy and my qualities, my speed.
“Especially when a manager is talking positively about you, it gives you very good confidence that he believes in you. I’ve had good conversations with him.
“I’m really excited [to work with Arne Slot]. Even when I was at [the] national team, some of the Feyenoord boys would tell me about him and be like, ‘He’s the best coach I’ve ever had.’ Things like this.
“So, I’ve always heard good things about the coach. Now he’s going to be my coach, so I’m excited for that.”