Trent Alexander-Arnold will be forced to change his favourite shirt number if he moves from to this summer. current Liverpool contract is due to expire at the end of June and that he has already a deal in principle to join Real.

Speculation over his future – and those of Virgil van Dijk and – have been rife all season, with all three running down their contracts. and want him to join his England team-mate in the Spanish capital to become the successor to Dani Carvajal at right-back.

Real saw in the , but have now succeeded in agreeing a five-year deal worth around £12.5m-a-year for the 26-year-old. One aspect that Alexander-Arnold will have to change is his shirt number, with his iconic No.66 not allowed in .

He has worn No.66 since starting out in the academy at Liverpool, despite wearing No,2, No.7, No.8 and No.10 for England. But he will have to land on a new number, given that La Liga doesn’t allow shirt numbers higher than No.25, which corresponds with the maximum squad size registered for the domestic campaign.

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The strict rules have also prevented teams from retiring shirt numbers in honour of club legends such as at or at Real Madrid.

The only players allowed to wear shirt numbers over No.25 are youth players, who don’t have to be registered in the same way. For example, Raul Asencio has been permitted to wear No.35 during this campaign for Real. Currently, the only vacant shirt numbers available at Real are No.12, No.24 and No.25.

Alexander-Arnold is yet to make his decision public, but the wheels appear to be in motion for his departure, with Liverpool boss reportedly looking at Bayer Leverkusen star Jeremie Frimpong to replace him at right-back.

, Alexander-Arnold stated he wants to win the Ballon d’Or and be considered as the best right-back to ever play the game. Asked how he’d like to be thought of in 20 years’ time, he replied: “A legend of football. Someone who changed the game – that’s the main thing that I have: ‘don’t play the game, change the game’.

“So that’s the legacy I want to have: being the greatest right-back to ever play football, if I’m honest. I know that there’s been so many out there, but I’ve got to reach for the stars and that’s where I believe my ceiling can go.”

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