EXPLAINED: Why Trent Alexander-Arnold Chose The Number 12 For Real Madrid - And How La Liga's Rules Forced Him to Do So

Former Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold is a Real Madrid player at last - and while the nature of his next move was always known ever since he announced his decision to leave, what was less clear is what his squad number would be when he joined the La Liga giants. 

However, upon being unveiled by the club, it was revealed that he chose to wear the number 12 and not the 66 that many have come to associate with him throughout his time at the Merseyside club. 

There is, however, a simple reason as to why it is that the man now going by the name ‘Trent’ on his social media handles ended up choosing a number that he'd previously never been associated with in his football career. 

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La Liga Rules Force Trent's Hand

The rules in Spain's top-flight league around squad numbers is simple. Every player in the ‘A’ squad of a club, a group in which Alexander-Arnold will be in, is obliged to pick a number from 1-25. 

This means the number 66 was never an option for the Englishman. But neither were the numbers 1, 13 and 25 as they are reserved for goalkeepers. 

The only numbers not taken up by anyone already in the squad were 12 and 18, with Trent opting for the former. 

Many noted that the last full-back to wear this number for Real was Marcelo, whose game was similar to Trent's in some ways. 

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Why Did Trent Wear 66? 

Of course, none of that actually goes into why it is he wore that number in the first place. Did it have a special meaning to the player? The answer is actually far more simple. 

When he joined the Liverpool senior team from the youth academy, Trent was given the number 66 - and he chose to stick with it. 

Liverpool, like many clubs, have a policy of giving out higher squad numbers to young players and Alexander-Arnold was no exception. He just opted to stick with it rather than change it later on.