Virgil van Dijk has spoken with his customary candour about the return of Trent Alexander-Arnold to Anfield on Tuesday night.
The 27-year-old will be back at his former stomping ground for Real Madrid’s visit to Liverpool in the Champions League, his first time coming up against the club where he rose from academy prospect to a footballer of global renown.
The England international has insisted that his “feelings won’t change” about LFC after the match, irrespective of the reception he receives from a crowd who used to cheer his name but then watched him effectively run down his contract to leave for a pittance earlier this year.
Van Dijk hasn’t kept in touch with Alexander-Arnold
Van Dijk was inevitably asked about the return of his former Liverpool teammate to Anfield, and the captain’s responses suggest that he’s taken a pragmatic approach to the reality that Alexander-Arnold has moved on, figuratively and literally.
When asked whether the 27-year-old will get a hostile reception in L4 tomorrow night, the Dutchman replied (via The Independent): “Let’s see. I’m not going to comment on that. I think he’s been outstanding in his time in Liverpool and that’s the only thing I can say.”
The skipper was then quizzed on whether he’s kept in touch with our former vice-captain since the latter’s move to Madrid, answering: “Not much, no. Nothing personal whatsoever, obviously. I live my life and he lives his life in Madrid.”
Van Dijk continued: “I was very happy to have him in my team. We have been very successful, but now he’s an opponent on Tuesday. If he plays, then we have to make it very difficult for him to do what he’s good at.”
Van Dijk’s message is clear – Alexander-Arnold is an opponent now
In other words, the Liverpool captain won’t be rolling out the red carpet for Alexander-Arnold on Tuesday. He’s just one of 11 Real Madrid players on the pitch that the Reds will be striving to beat in L4 for the second November in succession.
Some footballers maintain close friendships long after they cease being teammates. Others simply deviate and get on with their respective careers. That’s the nature of life at the highest level of the sport.
The probability of a frosty welcome back to Merseyside for the 27-year-old increased in recent days after he claimed that he’s been learning Spanish for ‘five months’ (i.e. since the start of May, when he was still an LFC player but was about to inform them that he wouldn’t be renewing his contract).
It’s entirely Alexander-Arnold right to choose what he believes is best for his career, but he’ll know that his legacy with many Liverpool fans (who would’ve strongly stood up for him in the face of criticism from the UK media) has now been permanently tainted.
For Van Dijk and his current teammates, tomorrow night is about getting a job done on the pitch, irrespective of who lines up for the opposition. That’s life. That’s football.
Unlike others I’m not bitter, Alexander Arnold was a fantastic player for Liverpool football club and he’s not the first, he won’t be the best last to want to join Real Madrid. Konate is next by the way. Steve mcmanaman, Michael owen, Alonso . It’s part of football, we pinch players as well from others. I will say this about Arnold, to survive at Real Madrid you need to be a certain type, Arnold comes across as shy, the sensitive person, and I can’t see him being there long. At Real Madrid there’s an in club , where gig big egos and big personality’s survive. Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener, more money, less happy. He won’t find the friends he had at Liverpool with real Madrid. Liverpool suupporters don’t boo Arnold. We are better than that.
Hypocritical start, tacit insults under pretences of a typo.
Taking others’ best last position, but leaving enough poison in there to adulterate the sentiment is a concerning habit and worthy of further investigation.
A bit like getting a sincere apology, along with short-term evidence that they’ve changed for the better from the S*n.
One can never be sure.
Good luck in your future too, Misty.
Something tells me he’s trying to Scour The Shire, Ja.
We’ve seen his devices before.
Gee guys, I hope Trent does really well in Spain (but not against us).
He may get bored with the egos over there, but would probably have regretted it later in life, if he didn’t at least give it a go.
If, in a 2-3 years, if he’s had enough of any “in-club” (Alonso would be a fool to allow such to flourish) and there’s room at LFC, I’d have him back.
We might need a right-sided midfielder or RB. He could even bring Bellingham with him ?