When Liverpool ruthlessly dispatched Manchester United on their very own turf earlier within the season, one of many enduring photos of the afternoon was of Trent Alexander-Arnold on the full-time whistle, holding aloft three fingers — one for every of the objectives his group had scored — to a jubilant away finish at Previous Trafford.
On Sunday, nevertheless, Liverpool’s struggles in opposition to United in a breathless 2-2 draw at Anfield had been maybe greatest typified by the sight of the right-back trudging towards the dugout to get replaced by Conor Bradley because the hosts desperately sought a late winner.
Whereas Alexander-Arnold was removed from the one participant in a crimson shirt who didn’t hit the heights, the postmatch evaluation noticed him bear the brunt of the criticism from followers and pundits alike. He misplaced the ball 25 instances in opposition to United, received none of his 5 duels and recorded a passing accuracy of simply 74.6% — barely under his season common of 76.5%. It was a day to neglect for the England worldwide on the finish of per week that may stay lengthy within the reminiscence of many Liverpool supporters, for all of the mistaken causes.
If Alexander-Arnold — who’s out of contract on the finish of the season — had been hoping to silence the noise surrounding his Anfield future along with his purpose celebration in opposition to West Ham United final week, it’s truthful to say that his actions didn’t have the specified impact. With experiences from Spain that the 26-year-old had already dedicated to becoming a member of Actual Madrid as a free agent in the summertime rising within the buildup to the 5-0 win on the London Stadium on Dec. 29, Alexander-Arnold marked his first Premier League purpose of the season in opposition to Julen Lopetegui’s facet by elevating his hand to his ear and making a “speaking” gesture. The celebration turned the topic of intense scrutiny, with some taking it as an indication that chat of Alexander-Arnold’s impending exit was untimely.
Lower than 48 hours later, although, the Madrid hierarchy appeared to recommend in any other case once they approached Liverpool about signing their vice-captain within the January switch window. A supply advised ESPN these advances had been rapidly rejected and no official bid was tabled. However whereas Liverpool’s swift rebuttal seemingly put paid to the concept of Alexander-Arnold leaving his boyhood membership this month, Madrid’s overt curiosity has set the stage for what may now grow to be a poisonous and protracted switch saga.
It should be famous that the duty for this turmoil, in what has in any other case been a serene debut season for Liverpool head coach Arne Slot, doesn’t lie solely with Alexander-Arnold. Earlier than kick-off at Anfield on Sunday, a banner was unfurled on the Kop depicting the right-back, alongside teammates Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, with the caption: “FSG give Mo & Co their dough.”
That every one three gamers will, as issues stand, have the ability to go away the membership as free brokers in a couple of months represents a obtrusive oversight on the a part of Liverpool’s homeowners, Fenway Sports activities Group, and the membership’s footballing hierarchy. That mentioned, Liverpool’s failings do include plenty of caveats; mainly that the previous couple of years have witnessed seismic change on the membership, within the dugout and behind the scenes.
Usually, a membership of Liverpool’s stature would look to safe a participant to a brand new contract when there may be round two years left on their current deal. Nevertheless, when Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Van Dijk had been in such a place in the summertime of 2023, sporting director Julian Ward left the membership after only one 12 months within the function. Former Wolfsburg sporting director Jörg Schmadtke was then drafted in as an interim, however the scope for long-term planning was additional scuppered when Jürgen Klopp introduced in January that he could be leaving on the finish of the 2023-24 season.
It’s comprehensible, then, that Alexander-Arnold and his teammates would wait to see the membership’s route of journey underneath Klopp’s successor earlier than they made any concrete choices about their future. Alexander-Arnold, particularly, shared an in depth bond with Klopp, who handed him his skilled debut and oversaw his rise to changing into one of many Premier League’s finest-ever right-backs with extra assists than some other defender within the competitors’s historical past.
However, with former AFC Bournemouth technical director Richard Hughes formally assuming the function of sporting director in June, and with Slot making a flying begin to life on Merseyside, there was an expectation that headway could be rapidly made in negotiations with Liverpool’s out-of-contract triumvirate. Whereas Salah has often voiced his frustration over the dearth of progress made — not too long ago insisting he’s “far-off” from agreeing a brand new deal — Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold have largely remained tight-lipped on their very own conditions, with the latter having publicly addressed his future solely as soon as, after Liverpool’s 3-0 win over Bournemouth in September.
“I need to be a Liverpool participant this season [as a minimum] is what I’ll say,” Alexander-Arnold mentioned. “I’ve been on the membership 20 years now. I’ve signed 4 or 5 contract extensions, and none of these have been performed out in public — and this one will not be both.”
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Laurens thinks Trent Alexander-Arnold has agreed to Actual Madrid transfer
Julien Laurens and Nedum Onuoha talk about Actual Madrid’s curiosity in Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold.
On the time it was seen as an admirable stance, however, as murmurings from Madrid have continued to develop louder, Alexander-Arnold’s silence has grow to be deafening. Rightly or wrongly, the defender is held to a better commonplace by supporters than Salah or Van Dijk, having been born and raised within the metropolis he now represents on the pitch.
The trade-off for that adulation when issues are going effectively is bigger scrutiny when issues will not be, and that could be a lesson Alexander-Arnold is now studying the onerous method. It’s value noting that, for all Madrid’s overtures, conversations over a contract renewal at Liverpool have been going down with Alexander-Arnold’s camp for a number of months, and the membership insist the participant has not but indicated a want to go away.
Even when the defender does resolve to hunt pastures new in the summertime, there may be an argument that he ought to go along with Liverpool’s greatest needs, having helped the membership to the Premier League and Champions League titles and represented the primary group with nice distinction over the previous eight years. He wouldn’t be the primary participant to be tempted by the brilliant lights of the Bernabéu, the place silverware is nearly assured and there may be the prospect to be catapulted to superstardom. With him having given twenty years of service to his boyhood membership, who may deny him the prospect to discover a brand new alternative?
However soccer is a sentimental recreation and there’s a significant slice of the Liverpool fanbase who would really feel betrayed ought to their native hero depart at what appears to be like to be the beginning of an thrilling new period underneath Slot, notably to the membership who, since 2018, have defeated them in two Champions League finals.
At a time when revenue and sustainability guidelines (PSR) dictate how freely golf equipment can transfer within the switch market, the prospect of shedding a homegrown asset for nothing would sting and has inevitably led to comparisons being drawn between Alexander-Arnold and Steve McManaman, who left Liverpool to affix Madrid on a free switch in 1999. Madrid’s January strategy additionally has the potential to destabilise Liverpool as they give the impression of being to pursue Premier League and Champions League glory. Actually, it will be naive to imagine that Alexander-Arnold and his camp had no prior data of Madrid’s advances, and, for that, the participant deserves some criticism.
In the end, although, Liverpool are in a tragic scenario that’s partly of their very own making, whereby a participant who has executed greater than sufficient to be revered as one of many membership’s all-time greats has now grow to be the best goal for supporters’ ire.
Most of the followers who attended the sport in opposition to United could have walked previous a mural erected in Alexander-Arnold’s honour on Sybil Highway, only a minute’s stroll from the stadium. It depicts Alexander-Arnold alongside the phrases: “I am only a regular lad from Liverpool whose dream has simply come true” — an emotional comment made after his group’s triumph within the 2019 Champions League closing. For the sake of each the defender and for Liverpool, readability over his future should be established sooner slightly than later, or else that dream is prone to turning right into a nightmare.