Gary Neville 'stunned' by Liverpool transfer fee after move confirmed - 'I just find it crazy'

Gary Neville

Gary Neville says he is stunned Real Madrid agreed to pay Liverpool nearly £10m to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold so he could feature at the Club World Cup finals later this month.

Alexander-Arnold announced at the start of May that he would not be renewing his contract with his boyhood club of more than 20 years and would therefore be leaving on June 30.

But at the end of last month, Real Madrid approached Liverpool about the possibility of releasing the defender from his contract on June 1 so he could be included in their squad for this summer's Club World Cup finals in the United States.

Initial reports claimed that the Spaniards were hoping a payment of £850,000 would be sufficient to get Alexander-Arnold on board earlier than anticipated.

In the end, however, the Reds made the La Liga side cough up £10m for Alexander-Arnold, a fee Neville admits left him "stunned".

Asked on the It's Called Soccer podcast about Real Madrid's decision to pay up an unprecedented amount of money for a player approaching the end of his contract,

Neville said:

"I'm stunned by that really, that £10m has changed hands...but there is £100m at stake in the Club World Cup, and Real Madrid have a great chance of winning it.

"So you imagine if he plays in this tournament, they haven't got a right back that's playing there naturally at this moment in time, so it could be money well spent in four or five weeks.

"I just find it crazy that you're spending £10m to have a player for five or six games. It's incredible."

After finishing the Premier League season with Liverpool on May 25, Alexander-Arnold has joined up with the England national team ahead of fixtures against Andorra and Senegal.

However, the 26-year-old is set to be named in Madrid's squad for the group stages of the Club World Cup, where they will face Al-Hilal, Pachuca and Red Bull Salzburg.