If it wasn't clear enough already, Real Madrid considers Trent Alexander-Arnold as an untouchable. In line with Vinicius Junior, Trent also has an unreachable €1B release clause.
Real Madrid's objective in the transfer window is simple: they want to sign the best players, sign them immediately, and keep them under their own control. These are the three facets of successful business, and Real hits them almost 100% of the time.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is an exceptional bit of business; we all know this. Even if the deal didn't end up being for free as fans expected, paying €10m to get him onboarded before the Club World Cup, the only thing that matters is that Trent is a Real player immediately.
Everything about this transfer makes complete sense. However, Real fans who believed the deal couldn't get any sweeter have been proven wrong immediately.
Real Madrid gave Trent Alexander-Arnold the €1B Vinicius treatment
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Trent Alexander-Arnold has an astonishing €1 billion release clause included in his Real Madrid contract. This means that if Liverpool or any other club, for that matter, wants easy access, they need to fork out a small €1 billion.
This is a similar tactic that Real Madrid fans are used to. After all, their prized possession Vinicius Junior, along with other star players, is also under the same release clause, making him virtually unavailable for transfer if Real Madrid wants to keep him.
Of course, Real Madrid doesn't expect any club to pay €1 billion for any of their players. Heck, even they wouldn't pay €1 billion for their own players. So, this release clause tactic acts as a deterrent to most clubs, more than anything else.
If Real Madrid is tired of saying no to interested clubs, they can simply point to the release clause, which is a firmer no.
For those who are not aware, release clauses are a fee that external clubs can pay to skip club-to-club negotiations and skip straight to club-to-player negotiations. So, even if a club triggers the €1 billion clause (they won't), they'll still need another stage to close the deal.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is a Madridista, and that won't change anytime soon.