With the 26-year-old’s contract set to expire at the end of the season, he is now able to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with clubs outside of England. The Liverpool academy graduate has been increasingly linked with a move to Real Madrid, which only shone the spotlight further on his lacklustre display on Sunday (January 5).
United repeatedly targeted the right-back’s flank during the Anfield fixture, with Alexander-Arnold clearly struggling and regularly being bested. It was very much a bad day at the office for him, with pundit Roy Keane even joking on Sky Sports: “There’s talk about him going to Real Madrid - he’s going to Tranmere Rovers after this.”
Even captain and defensive partner Virgil van Dijk visibly lost patience with him during the match, with Alexander-Arnold failing to win a single duel by the time he was substituted in the 86th minute for Conor Bradley. With his Anfield future now in greater doubt than ever, Mirror Football takes a look at the factors which have led him to this point.
Rocked by Jurgen Klopp’s departure
Jurgen Klopp was the man who gave Alexander-Arnold his big break in the Liverpool first team. It was under the German that he won every trophy possible at club level, while earning three PFA Team of the Year awards.
It’s therefore unsurprising that the defender was perhaps hurt more than any other player when Klopp announced in January of last year that he would walk away in the summer of 2024. Alexander-Arnold admitted to Sky Sports that the bombshell came as a blow, and he claimed it left the dressing room “shook” for several hours.
Jurgen Klopp helped Trent Alexander-Arnold achieve his ambitions at Liverpool (
Image:
Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
He said: “It was just a complete surprise to all of us as players, it was one that we didn't see coming, you never do, especially when things are going so well.
"We were flying, up and around the top of the league, we're fighting on all four fronts at that point for every trophy we could so you're expecting the good times to keep coming and coming and coming.
"So when he tells us the news and his decision we have got to respect it obviously but it's one of them no player wants to hear and it was one that kind of shook the dressing room for a couple of hours.”
Rough start under Arne Slot
Alexander-Arnold would have already been well aware that he had just a year remaining on his contract by the time Klopp left. As with his fellow stars Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, who face similar contract conundrums, he had questions over his future at the club, especially regarding new manager Arne Slot and his role in an entirely new project.
Despite the Reds’ blistering start to the campaign, there were some signs of tension between Alexander-Arnold and the Dutchman early on. Slot did not let him play the full 90 minutes for the first three Premier League games of the season, stating he was managing the defender’s workload.
Alexander-Arnold reacted poorly to being subbed by Arne Slot
Alexander-Arnold nonetheless cut a frustrated figure when he was taken off in the second half against Brentford back in August. The 26-year-old then slumped in his chair on the bench while Slot tried to talk to him, and he also appeared nonplussed after the final whistle when Diogo Jota tried to celebrate the win with him.
The Dutchman shielded his player from criticism and did so again on Sunday, saying: "Trent has played mostly very good games for the club. Today was not his best game but that had to do with them as well. Sometimes Ryan [Gravenberch] was not close enough to him so it was a two-on-one situation. I would put it more on the quality of [Diogo] Dalot and Bruno Fernandes."
Liverpool and Slot will hope Alexander-Arnold can bounce back in Wednesday’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Tottenham, both to quieten the criticism over his performance and the speculation surrounding his future.
Real Madrid rumours heat up
Reports from Spain in December claimed Alexander-Arnold had told Liverpool he wants to leave for Real Madrid once his contract expires this summer. Those reports have been denied by several UK outlets.
Yet the interest from Los Blancos has not waned as they approached the Reds on New Year’s Eve in an attempt to bring him to the Spanish capital as early as this month. Liverpool rebuffed a reported £20m bid for their vice-captain and it is expected that the La Liga giants will now push to sign him at the end of the season.
It remains to be seen what will happen next, with talks still underway with the Anfield hierarchy over a potential extension. All contract negotiations have been left to Liverpool’s sporting director, Richard Hughes, with the club's determination to keep Alexander-Arnold remaining unchanged.
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