The issues at Real Madrid – and the scenes at Anfield – which COULD have Trent Alexander-Arnold reconsidering his Liverpool future, writes LEWIS STEELE
These are the days, my friends. Those were the words of one gentleman who was standing ambitiously on top of a bus stop with a red flare in his right hand and a can of lager in the other.
The beaming sunshine had clocked off for the day and it was now evening time outside Anfield, the night sky illuminated by non-stop fireworks and pyrotechnics. But thousands were still in situ singing and dancing, celebrating a day many feared may never come.
This was the start of a mass party 35 years in the making. You could not move outside the stadium in a scene that was an assault on the senses, the stench of pyro clinging to clothes and the sheer noise causing ears to ring.
In the city, Lime Street station resembled a bit of a post-apocalyptic scene. A train arrived from down south on platform six carrying passengers back to Merseyside after running the London Marathon. They too had crossed the finish line on Sunday after an arduous journey.
One, sporting a Liverpool jersey and medal, looked like he had not one ounce of energy left to offer but was soon invited to cheer up as he was met by the polar opposite emotion: a sea of red shirts all brimming with euphoria and ecstasy, some voice-boxes starting to fail them.
So these indeed are the days. Stories and memories created that will be passed down the generations, a real ‘I was there’ moment. A day that felt like you were witnessing history unfold in real time.
Back at Anfield, the players were upstairs in the meal room partying into the small hours with their nearest and dearest.
Liverpool were crowned Premier League champions on Sunday after thrashing Tottenham
In the wake of the victory, parts of Liverpool city centre resembled something from a post-apocalyptic scene
Many of the players told the media how the emotions of winning the league had not yet sunk in
Darwin Nunez had lit up a cigar that stank out the dressing room while others were downing bottles of Carlsberg (non-alcoholic champagne was available for the non-drinkers).
Players who spoke to the media all talked of how it has not sunk in yet, with Ibrahima Konate saying: ‘To be fair I don’t realise yet. After four seasons I did it, finally… I am very happy. To win this league is crazy. I am the first French player from Liverpool to do it. Unbelievable.’
Maybe by now, with Monday blacked out as a well-deserved day off for the squad, it has hit them. Heads – and legs for those marathon runners who were returning back to find their city is now the home of the champions of England – will be sore all over Merseyside.
But the sense of glory, achievement and pride will have sunk in and slapped them in the face, whether a player or fan.
The squad will have been truly touched to witness this outpouring of emotion, to see what it means to everyone connected with this storied club and its loyal fanbase.
And it begs the question: how on earth can anyone ever want to leave this? Players of rival teams may have watched on with a hint of jealousy or, if they are a summer transfer target, a sense of conviction: Liverpool is now the place to be.
They are now the undisputed most successful club in England. We will let them celebrate this feat first before starting to turn the wheel of the never-ending narrative arc towards how they can make it a dynasty – but why shouldn’t they be eyeing more glory?
Why shouldn’t Arne Slot’s Liverpool have realistic ambitions of getting their hands back on Ol’ Big Ears and European Cup No 7 next year? Why shouldn’t they go into next season as favourites for a happy 21st and to put distance between them and Manchester United?
The Reds have now become the undisputed most successful team in English football history
Why should Liverpool not have realistic ambitions of winning the Champions League under Arne Slot?
The Liverpool top brass are still in celebration mode but they are also planning ahead. Mail Sport understands Slot will be backed with a big transfer budget this summer and the club is expected to spend big to capitalise on this success.
They want a left back, central defender and forward, while a midfielder could also be on the menu. Some players will leave but it is expected to be a busy summer at Anfield.
And this brings us swiftly on to the Trent Alexander-Arnold conundrum.
The local lad and vice-captain has returned from an injury in style, a match-winning goal at Leicester and a mercurial performance dictating play in a quarter-back-like role in the 5-1 drubbing of Tottenham.
He cajoled the crowd when he was substituted – he is not 100 per cent fit yet – and then was pushed towards the Kop where he received a warm embrace and a rousing rendition of ‘it’s Alexander-Arnold, the Scouser in our team’.
Fellow Liverpudlian Curtis Jones is adored by fans, others like Virgil van Dijk and Alisson and Alexis Mac Allister and Mohamed Salah are idolised… but no one has the connection with the fanbase quite like Alexander-Arnold. He is living all of their dreams every time he plays.
Surely those post-match scenes would have planted the smallest of seeds of doubt in his mind. Come on, is Real Madrid REALLY better than this?
You can ask that any day but especially this week, when the reigning champions of Europe and Spain embarrassed themselves by kicking up a fuss about the referee in the Copa del Rey final. They lost that game, by the way, to Barcelona – and trail four by four points in La Liga.
Trent Alexander-Arnold lives every fan’s dreams whenever he plays for his boyhood club
Real Madrid were beaten by Barcelona in a fiery Copa del Rey final – are they REALLY a better option than Liverpool right now?
There is still an allure of playing for Real Madrid – especially with close friend Jude Bellingham on the books at the Bernabeu
Yet the scenes at Anfield, where Alexander-Arnold is already a legend-in-waiting, may be enough to send his mind racing
The Florentino Perez PR machine has whirred away in the days after that defeat at La Cartuja in Seville, with Los Blancos linked to every Tom, Dick and Harry. But Trent is the one they want the most, with a mega-money offer on the table to make him the next Galactico.
No one is doubting the allure of playing for the great Real Madrid, 15 times the kings of Europe, or the lifestyle that will come with it in the Spanish capital.
But Alexander-Arnold is a legend-in-waiting at Anfield and those scenes at full-time, not just the warm reception he got but the buzz and delight on the faces of everyone in the building, surely will have sent his mind racing. At this stage, nothing is officially signed regarding his future.
It is not just he who will have witnessed the emotion on Sunday, or got the feeling that this could be the start of a special era of dominance for the Slot machine.
For the first time in three years, 11 months and 18 days, Manchester City are no longer the champions of England. It is too early to say this is a full-blown changing of the guard but this triumph puts Liverpool once more on the map as the place to be.
