Everything depends on Trent Alexander-Arnold's move to "Real". He has officially announced that he will leave "Liverpool" at the end of the season. Insider David Ornstein writes that the player wants to sign a 6-year contract with "Madrid", with a salary of around 8 million euros before taxes.
Trend will receive a subscription bonus of 15-20 million euros. "Liverpool" will not receive a single cent. This is another success of Florentino Perez's strategy.
"Real" is the home of free top players. They already have three!
Trent is the fourth top player to join "Madrid" as a free agent in the last five years.
● David Alaba. The club signed the Austrian player in 2021 to replace Sergio Ramos - it seemed like a great transfer during the pandemic and revenue decline. "Real" had no regrets: David helped win the championship and the ECHL in his first season, and then the Copa del Rey as well. Then injuries occurred. Alaba earns 12 million euros a year after taxes.
● Antonio Rudiger. A year later, a new defender was signed under the same scenario: the German could not agree with "Chelsea", and then Antonio received an offer from "Real" for a four-year contract with a salary of seven million after taxes. They did not miss out again!
● Kylian Mbappe. Remember the events surrounding the French player who moved from PSG: the forward signed a contract with a salary of 15 million euros a year after taxes, but even though it was divided over five years, he also received a bonus of 100 million euros. However, PSG did not receive a single euro.
Now there is a possibility with Trent. In the summer of 2026, "Madrid" plans to buy William Saliba from "Arsenal", and initial negotiations have already begun.
Mbappe - the catalyst of "Real" strategy
It was precisely because of Kylian that long-term negotiations took place.
In the summer of 2021, "Madrid" tried to attract Mbappe from PSG, as his contract was expiring. Perez was confident: the French club would definitely sell the forward to avoid losing their main star for free.
"Real" took a risk and offered a record 160 million euros, then raised it to 200 million - in vain. PSG held onto Kylian, ignoring "Real". That year at the "Real" general assembly, Perez stated: "There is no possibility to buy a top player now - clubs are refusing to sell their best players, even if their contracts are expiring or asking for an absolutely huge amount of money. It is simply more beneficial for us to wait for the player's contract to expire and sign him as a free agent".
According to Marca, an additional factor for Florentino was the transfer of Hazard - despite his expiring contract, they had to pay more than 120 million euros for the 28-year-old Belgian, otherwise "Chelsea" would not have wanted to negotiate.
If Alaba had a good market opportunity, "Real" has already strategically worked on Rudiger, Mbappe, and Trent. The club has communicated with the entourages of the players, informing them that they would negotiate with them if they do not extend their contracts with their current clubs.
Perez sees economic rationality in this. Despite being one of the richest clubs in the world, even "Real" is not protected from Javier Tebas's financial restrictions or UEFA's financial fair play, and the desire to maintain a balanced budget forces them to act more wisely. By acquiring players without transfer fees, the club saves tens of millions of euros, which can be redistributed for salaries, bonuses, or infrastructure development - Alaba, Rudiger, Mbappe, and Trent did not cost "Real" anything, but if the club had to pay transfer fees, they would have had to spend more money on them.
According to Relevo, Florentino is ready to pay for star players a year before their contracts expire if the selling club is open to negotiations and does not inflate the price considering all circumstances.
In particular, last year "Real" considered it madness to demand 70 million euros for Leni Yoro, taking into account all bonuses, in a situation where the defender's contract with "Lille" was expiring - "Real" simply walked away from negotiations, and Yoro eventually moved to "Manchester United". However, in 2021, the club happily bought Eduardo Camavinga, for which "Rennes" asked only 31 million euros a year before the contract expired.
"Real" is not only strengthening with free agents. Perez has completed three major deals in the last three years - Aurelien Tchouameni (80+20), Jude Bellingham (103+30), and Endrick (35+25) considering potential bonuses, totaling between 218 million and 293 million euros for the club.
The era of large expenditures for "Real" has not disappeared, but now they live with cold pragmatism. By acquiring free agents, the Madrid club is not just saving money - they are demonstrating the ability to adapt to the new football market, where influence is often measured not by millions spent but by foresight. This is a strategy of a club that wants to survive in a world where winning is not only about money, and top clubs are ready to do anything to keep their key players.
