As the current transfer window draws to a close, Liverpool will likely be fretting about the fact that they’ve still not tied down Trent Alexander-Arnold to a new contract.
The 25-year-old is out of contract next summer and should never have been allowed to get to the final year of his contract and not have an extension already signed and sealed.
It’s given rise to the fact that the full-back, who has also carved out a niche as a marauding midfield ace, could well be tempted by the overtures from Real Madrid.
Trent Alexander-Arnold to Real Madrid rumours won’t go away
England colleague, Jude Bellingham, enjoyed a spectacular debut campaign in the Spanish capital, and it would be no surprise at all if he’d tried to persuade Trent to join him at the La Liga giants.
Well-informed journalist, James Pearce, offered an important update as to what could happen next.
“Recent history shows that the longer it drags on, the more that hopes fade of a compromise being reached,” he wrote in The Athletic (subscription required).
“[…] By leaving it so late, Liverpool will be competing with offers from clubs eyeing a free transfer next summer
“That is problematic given that those clubs can promise huge signing-on fees knowing they won’t have to pay a transfer fee.
“Liverpool pushed the boat out to keep Salah in the summer of 2022 when the threat of losing him for nothing was looming large and they will need to do so again if their attempts to keep Alexander-Arnold are to reach a positive conclusion.”
Clearly, losing one of Liverpool’s best young players, and a standard bearer for all of those academy players that will look to Trent’s rise as the example of the pathway being available to them if they’re good enough, would be disastrous for the club.
It would appear to be hugely important, as the likes of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alisson perhaps look to move on, that they are replaced like-for-like in order that the squad can remain competitive after their eventual departures.
All of Arne Slot’s first-team players will want to believe that he and the club have what it takes to continue the glory days that were enjoyed under Jurgen Klopp.
The sooner a new contract can therefore be readied and put in front of Trent and his representatives, the better.
