Trent Alexander-Arnold is certainly not the first and won’t be the last player to depart his boyhood club.
However, when faced with a similar predicament, a German great took a different approach that caught an entire fanbase by surprise.
Shockwaves were sent through the football world on Tuesday when talkSPORT broke the news Alexander-Arnold has agreed to join Real Madrid in the summer on a free transfer.
Despite months of negotiations, the 26-year-old opted to move to Los Blancos next term, where he is expected to pen a five-year deal worth in excess of £220,000-per-week.
It will bring an end to the right-back’s 20-year association with the club, having joined Liverpool‘s academy in 2004 aged six.
Bastian Schweinsteiger had not been at Bayern Munich for as long as Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool when he found himself in a similar situation.
The 40-year-old first joined the Bavarians in July 1998 as a youth player before he made his first-team debut in November 2002.
It didn’t take long for Schweinsteiger to endear himself to the Bayern faithful thanks to his all-action displays in midfield.
Yet those same Bayern fans who loved Schweinsteiger were more than prepared to turn on him during the 2010/11 season.
The midfielder was out of contract in 2012 and a raft of European giants were ready to swoop.
Clubs including Real Madrid, Chelsea and Manchester United were all credited with an interest in snapping up Schweinsteiger.
So Bayern fans could be forgiven for thinking the worst when, after Bayern had beaten St Pauli 3-0 on January 2 in 2011, Schweinsteiger took the microphone from the stadium announcer.
3
It seemed the supporters at the Allianz Arena had already made their minds up regarding Schweinsteiger as they showered him with boos and whistles before he even had the chance to speak.
However, the reaction changed instantly once they heard what Schweinsteiger had to say.
“I’ve been playing here at FC Bayern Munich for 12 years now,” Schweinsteiger said.
“And I wanted to tell you, I have extended my contract and will stay at FC Bayern until 2016.
“Long live Bayern!”
Upon Schweinsteiger’s last line, the crowd erupted into loud cheers as their star midfielder kissed the Bayern badge.
3
Louis van Gaal, who was Bayern boss at the time, was delighted to have kept Schweinsteiger at the club.
“I’m a coach with long-term goals,” Van Gaal said.
“Therefore the new contract for Bastian Schweinsteiger is very important.
“It’s a very good sign that we managed to keep this world class player at our club.”
Schweinsteiger went on to play a remarkable 500 appearances for Bayern across all competitions before he departed to Manchester United in 2015.
The midfielder also played a leading role in Germany’s 2014 World Cup triumph, where he played the full 120 minutes in the final against Argentina.
But had his famous moment on the microphone in January 2011 gone differently, who knows how the German great’s career may have turned out.
