Liverpool & England star Trent Alexander-Arnold insists it’s not trophies that will give him ‘satisfaction’ at the end of his career amid Real Madrid transfer links

Alexander-Arnold has been linked with a move to Real when his contract expires at the end of the season, with the Spanish giants monitoring developments over his future. Now, though, the England international has suggested that trophies do not motivate him as he ponders his legacy once his career is over.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The right-back maintains that trophies and medals are not the be all and end all for him, as he is instead aiming to “maximise his potential”, having been told that he could become a professional footballer from a very young age. Whether he chooses to do that in England or in Spain remains to be seen.

• WHAT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD SAID

  He told ITV, when asked if his biggest fear was not maximising his talent: “Yeah, for sure, this was a conversation I had last camp, when we were travelling to Ireland. I was on the coach down to the airport with (Eberechi) Eze and we had this conversation and I said, ‘you know, there’s a chance that I may never win another trophy in my career again, there’s a chance of that, there’s a chance I win many, many more’, and I think you’ll only know the morning after you retire, and you look at yourself in the mirror, and you’ll have a feeling of either regret or satisfaction of what you’ve achieved.

  “I don’t think you can value that on trophies and medals, goals, assists, anything like that, it’s more ‘I gave it absolutely everything, from start to finish I put everything into it’ and as long as I can say that, that every single day I put everything into it, I tried to get better every day, I tried to improve myself, I tried to be the best player I could be for the team, tried to help the team win as many games as possible, and I believe I maximised the potential that everybody told me from a very young age that I had, then I’ll be more than satisfied.”

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Alexander-Arnold could next be in action over the international break. England play Greece and Finland in the Nations League. Looking further ahead, Real Madrid will doubtless be tempted to make a move for him if he is available on a free transfer next summer.