Trent Alexander-Arnold’s view on Liverpool reunion as Real Madrid deal agreed | Football | Sport
Trent Alexander-Arnold looks set to reunite with Ibrahima Konate (Image: 2025 Allstar)
Trent Alexander-Arnold will be delighted to hear that his former Liverpool team-mate Ibrahima Konate appears poised to join him in the Spanish capital this summer. That is, if the ex-Reds star’s past comments are anything to go by. After months of speculation, Konate looks set to put pen to paper at Real on a free transfer after it was confirmed he will depart Liverpool when his contract expires.
The defender arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2021 and forged a close bond with Alexander-Arnold, who made the move to Real last summer. Their potential reunion will come as welcome news to the England full-back. The former team-mates have regularly sung each other’s praises over the years, with Alexander-Arnold effusive in his admiration for Konate’s display in Liverpool‘s Champions League final showdown with Real four years ago.
Despite the Reds falling to a 1-0 defeat that evening, Konate was nothing short of commanding.
“Wow. Outstanding,” Alexander-Arnold told Liverpool’s official website the following day. “The performance he put in yesterday, I’m lost for words. Words can’t do it justice.”
Reflecting on his blossoming friendship with Konate at the time, he added: “We’ve created a bond and he’s an amazing lad. The potential he has is ridiculous. The sky is the limit.”
A year earlier, shortly after Konate had touched down at Liverpool from RB Leipzig, Alexander-Arnold was keen to express just how impressed he was with his new colleague.
“He’s a very athletic boy, which is probably something more common now with centre-backs,” he said. “Being amazing athletes, who are fast and strong and he ticks all those boxes.
“He’s still young, but he’s got huge potential. I think obviously learning and playing next to Virgil [Van Dijk], he’s one of those players you instantly pick up things from – just his positioning and the way he commands the defence.”
The pair struck up a close bond prior to Alexander-Arnold’s exit (Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
The feeling appears to be mutual. Prior to England’s quarter-final encounter with France at the World Cup in 2022, Konate spoke candidly about his close bond with Alexander-Arnold.
“It’s a rivalry that’s been around since the dawn of time,” Konate said in a press conference ahead of France’s clash with the Three Lions.
“Trent Alexander-Arnold sent me a message saying, ‘See you on Saturday, my brother’ because I’m very close to him.”
Konate had been engaged in talks with the Reds regarding a potential contract extension, but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement.
In April, he said that he was “close” to putting pen to paper on fresh terms and expressed his desire to remain at Anfield.
Nevertheless, he will now bring the curtain down on his five-year spell at Liverpool, having secured the Premier League, FA Cup and two League Cups during his time on Merseyside.
His exit would represent yet another significant transfer setback for the Reds. They lost Alexander-Arnold to Los Blancos last summer, with Madrid paying a mere £10m to land the defender just weeks before his contract expired on Merseyside.
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