Arnold goes to Real Madrid with a dream! Golden ball ambition burns red heart, Fenway hesitates to create a sorrow

The dust has settled, Arnold is about to leave Liverpool, and it is very likely to join Real Madrid. Some fans are disappointed and some are angry, but no one is surprised. This farewell has long been doomed.

As the "child" of Liverpool youth training, this chosen son who joined the Reds at the age of six should have realized his dream of leading his beloved team to charge. However, in the past year, some things have changed quietly. Perhaps the impact of Klopp's departure has far exceeded expectations, or perhaps he is just eager for new challenges.

No matter what the reason is, the final result is that the Red Army will watch the youth training treasure leave freely. It can be foreseen that this breakup will inevitably trigger a fierce backlash, and the finger will probably not be pointed only at the players themselves.

Instead of participating in the game, it is better to rewrite the rules

When interviewed by Sky Sports in October last year, when asked whether to win the Champions League again, become Liverpool's captain, win the Cup for England or win the Golden Globes, Arnold pondered for a little while and chose the last item.

The right-back explained: "(I want to be) a legend that changes football. My creed is that instead of participating in the game, it is better to rewrite the rules. "I want to be honest, I long to leave the best right-back legend in history."

"Only in the morning after retirement, when you stare at yourself in the mirror and be able to calmly say that you have given everything, this is more important than any trophy or medal. I was 'talented' since I was six years old. Only by fulfilling this potential and becoming a historical player you believe you can become can you truly satisfy. As for the number of honors, it doesn't matter."

This confession made everything clear: the Bernabeu is what he wants. When the vision of "Anfield Legend" quietly gave way to the blueprint of "Madrid superstar", Merseyside's evening breeze could not retain the soul of the desire to reshape the football territory.

Real Madrid's obsession

Real Madrid is indeed more capable of helping Arnold to win the Golden Balls than Liverpool. This club with the most Champions League trophys in history has always regarded personal honors as dynasty totem. After Vinicius lost to Rodri by a slight margin last year, the White Army collectively absent from the award ceremony, which not only exposed their arrogance, but also confirmed the team's pathological persistence in individual awards in this team sport.

But even with Florentino's strong support, the English right-back's prospects for winning the prize are still slim. He first competes with Bellingham, Mbappe and Vinicius for the best in the team, and since Cannavaro in 2006, no defender has ever played against the Golden Ball. Even though modern football pays more and more attention to the value of full-backs, it is not enough to replicate Carvajal's feat of double championships in the Champions League and European Cup last year, and the Spanish Iron Gate failed to even make it to the final three-man shortlist.

As Harman's sharp comment: "If you vote for Real Madrid for the Golden Globes, it is better to stay at Anfield!"

The faded legend

To be fair, Arnold knows better than anyone else that his ambition to pursue the Golden Globes will be regarded as "dream". But this just misunderstood his original intention. For him, what is important is not whether he can really win the cup, but whether he is at the closest to his dream. Joining Real Madrid is the only way to the peak in his eyes.

Of course, this may indeed increase his chances of winning, but it will inevitably damage his quality as a Liverpool legend. Although online public opinion has begun to deliberately downplay or even erase his achievements in the Klopp era, his contributions at those critical moments will never be forgotten. The quick corner kick alone is enough to keep his name in Anfield's history forever.

Klopp even regarded this youth training treasure as the most important lineup puzzle during his nine-year term. The weight of this evaluation is self-evident. You should know that Salah, Van Dijk, Mane, Fabinho and other superstars also joined at the same time.

The destined to be unable to say goodbye to the decent fare

It is precisely because Arnold played such an important role in this glorious period that his resolute departure is even more bitter. The accusations of "betraying the childhood club" made Liverpool's former player Warnock speak out in anger: "It is difficult to understand the malice against Arnold. Remarks such as 'he should be ashamed' and 'no loyalty' are simply absurd. He has the right to choose to meet the challenges of the new league and new country. " The front defender wrote on social media: "He won everything for Liverpool and deserves the deep farewell of the fans. "

But the warm curtain call has become a luxury. This farewell is destined to be accompanied by a sting, not only because he wants to leave, but also because he will leave freely. Carragher tried to use "not spending the transfer fee at the beginning" to downplay the loss, but this just highlighted the cruelty of the problem: in today's financial environment, failure to obtain transfer income from the Youth Training Treasure is equivalent to a huge financial loophole. If sold last summer, the capital could be used to introduce replacements (the cost is bound to be expensive) or to strengthen other positions, even if Liverpool believes Bradley is ready to take over the right gate. The finger of accountability should be directed at Fenway Group, however, it is not fair to blame Arnold for the loss of this potential income. Even if he intends to use up the contract to increase transfer chips and seek maximum salary for the Bernabeu, the club should have the ability and should have done its duty to prevent the situation from developing.

Unlike Salah and Van Dijk who have successively signed up for the contract, this youth training pride has never expressed his intention to stay in the team. In fact, among these three core players, his risk of leaving the team is always the highest, which means he should make a quick decision last summer: either renew the contract or cash out.

Carrag excused Fenway Group on the grounds of management turmoil, but the end of the accountability chain is always the capitalist. No matter what kind of game of thrills the board of directors, they should accomplish two things: locking out the contract renewal of core players or selling at a high point in the market, and any arguments trying to complicate the problem cannot cover up this basic fact. The emotions caused by the departure of the player are obviously more complicated: people are grateful for his cruise missile-style crosses that rewrite the score, and miss the violent aesthetic football that symbiosis with the Klopp system. But the anger is also true. When Liverpool regained its attitude as a contender for European hegemony, he should have led the team to fight against Real Madrid's core, but chose to surrender to the enemy at his peak.

is worth the price?

The most regrettable thing is that this Liverpool fairy tale, which could have become a good story, will eventually end with regret. In this era when one person and one city are almost extinct, Arnold was the closest person to this ideal, the lighthouse that illuminated Anfield all the way from the youth training camp.

He once said that the championship in the Klopp era is more valuable than Manchester City's trophy during the same period because "we are fighting against Taiwan's winning machines." Now he is going to join the richest capital club in the history of the Champions League. Behind this seemingly contradictory choice, it just confirms his self-explanation: no longer fighting for the honor of a certain team, but only living for the ultimate goal of his personal life. This professional attitude is actually common in contemporary football, but fans' loss is still inevitable.

The final stage of the season, he may still be able to look forward to a decent farewell, although the secret conversation with Real Madrid during the critical period of Liverpool's championship competition has already created unnecessary ripples in the locker room. The resentment of the Red Army fans is understandable: what they have lost is not only the players, but also the child who carries the common dream.

When the obsession with chasing the Golden Globes surpasses the longing for wearing the captain's armband, only the person in the mirror in the morning after retirement can tell him: whether it is worth it.