Real Madrid announce departure of defender hours after signing Trent Alexander-Arnold

Real Madrid have announced the departure of one of their defenders after confirming the signing of Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool.

Alexander-Arnold, who was due to be out of contract at the end of next month, will join Real on June 1 after they paid Liverpool £10 million to release him early for the Club World Cup.

As per The Times' Paul Joyce, Real will cover Alexander-Arnold's Liverpool salary and any contract bonuses for the remainder of his existing deal as part of the agreement.

He will therefore be available to play in Los Blancos' first Club World Cup group game against Al Hilal on June 16.

Alexander-Arnold will compete for the right-back spot with Dani Carvajal, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in October.

Carvajal has stated that he is aiming to be fit for the Club World Cup, but there has been no update on his status in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, another Real defender has already left the club and play no part in the tournament.

Centre-back Jesus Vallejo has agreed to depart the Bernabeu before the end of his contract on June 30, the club have announced.

Vallejo joined Real as an 18-year-old in 2015 and has been at the club for the last 10 years, as well as spending several spells out on loan.

He has made just 22 La Liga appearances for Los Blancos in that time, though, including just three in the 2024/25 season.

Despite his lack of game time, though, Vallejo has two Champions League winners' medals to his name, as well as two Club World Cup titles under its old format and one La Liga crown.

Taking to Twitter after his departure was announced, Vallejo wrote: "Many thanks to all the people who are part of Real Madrid for these seasons in which we have experienced all kinds of moments.

Image: Twitter/@JesusVallejo

"Both my family and I leave with the good feeling of having lived, worked and enjoyed this stage until the last day.

"I am very proud to have worked every day to help the team and my team-mates as much as possible from the position i was in at any given moment.

"I am also very grateful to all the Madridistas who have been supporting me in every game, in every training camp and at the end of every training session."