TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD will not be able to wear his No66 shirt at Real Madrid due to a little-known rule.
The Liverpool star’s contract expires this summer and he is ready to leave Anfield for free.
Alexander-Arnold will reportedly sign a five-year deal at Real Madrid and pocket £240,000-a-week.
His move to Spain sees his spell at boyhood club Liverpool come to an end and his nine years wearing the No66 is also over.
That is because a LaLiga rule prevents players having kit numbers above No25, corresponding to the size of a team’s squad.
Only youngsters who are not registered in the senior squad, but can still play, are allowed to wear a higher digit on their back.
His future Real Madrid team-mate Raul Asencio is an exception to the rule amid a breakthrough season in the No35 shirt.
The No66 has become synonymous with Alexander-Arnold after he was given it when he first started training with the first-team in 2016.
It was handed to him as it was a free number and not low enough to think he was an established part of the Liverpool side.
But Alexander-Arnold quickly broke into the starting XI in the unique number and has decided to keep it ever since.
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While playing for England, he has donned the No2, No7, No8 and No10 shirts.
Despite him seemingly leaving Liverpool on a free, the club are still set to rake in cash from Real Madrid.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D110398%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /] [bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”‘He’s going to Tranmere after this’ – Roy Keane rips into Trent Alexander-Arnold after ‘school boy’ defending vs Man Utd” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6366711584112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]The Champions League holders want to complete the signing in time for the revamped Club World Cup, which starts on June 15.
Alexander-Arnold’s deal does not expire until June 30 and Real Madrid are therefore willing to pay around £5million to break the contract early so he can join his new team in the US for the tournament.
