This piece has been updated after Liverpool rejected an approach to buy Trent Alexander-Arnold on Tuesday.
It’s been one of the most intriguing subplots to Liverpool’s season so far.
While Arne Slot marked a dizzying speed in both the Premier League and in the Champions League, the future of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil Van Dijk still did not resolve.
The 3 have won the contract of sports director Richard Hughes, however, the negotiations have been hard and, as of January 1, the trio will enter the last six months of his existing contracts and can officially speak with foreign clubs of a movement Imagineable in the summer. .
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The noise surrounding Alexander-Arnold has intensified over the last week with several reports in Spain claiming he is close to signing for Real Madrid and a strategy by the La Liga club to sign him in January via the Liverpool.
The Atletico spoke to several resources with stage wisdom to perceive the existing state of affairs related to Liverpool’s vice-captain.
It is about who you communicate.
Sources close to Real Madrid insist that it is increasingly about signing Alexander-Arnold as a loose agent once his contract expired in June.
The Athletic in October that the Spanish and European champions had made the English right-back their number 1 target following talks with coach Carlo Ancelotti following the withdrawal of Dani Carvajal with a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in his knee.
Madrid were encouraged by the lack of progress in talks between Liverpool and Alexander-Arnold over a new contract. Sources close to Madrid state that since mid to late November, they have believed the 26-year-old has been leaning towards moving to Spain after making informal contact with the player’s camp.
These same resources expect Alexander-Arnold, who has a close friendship with the foreign midfielder of Madrid, Jude Bellingham, who indicates an agreement prior to the contract with the Bernabéu club in January. They say that a long -term agreement of at least 4 years and heavy prices of signaling has been proposed.
Spanish newspaper Marca claimed on Saturday that “Alexander-Arnold has already told Liverpool he wants to play for Real Madrid”, but senior Anfield figures are adamant that is not the case. Head coach Slot has made it clear that Liverpool still retain hope that he will stay with his boyhood club.
HE FIGHTS THE CLAIMS OF THE SPANISH PUBLICATION THAT “The signing is at 90%. . . Trent has one foot at Real Madrid. “However, sources close to the scene on Merseyside have shrugged off rumours that a deal between the player and the European champions is close and insist that, so far, Alexander-Arnold’s side have not had any official talks with any club other than Liverpool.
They say that staying in Anfield is still a while preparing to make the greatest resolution of his life, either professionally and personally.
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It’s more of a symbolic date than anything else. The rules state that, from that moment, clubs from other countries can make an approach to a player who has entered the final six months of his current contract.
However, it would be naive to think that any suitor for Alexander-Arnold, Salah or Van Dijk would wait until the turn of the year to try to establish whether a move is possible and what the cost involved would be.
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Speaking after Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Leicester City on Boxing Day, Slot said: “It’s clear that from January 1, maybe for you guys (in the media), things change a lot, but they are in constant talks with the club. Let’s wait and see what happens. As long as they keep performing like this, I’m happy.”
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Highly unlikely.
When Madrid contacted Liverpool’s hierarchy on Tuesday to enquire whether a deal could be done in January, the Premier League club made it clear they had no interest in negotiating and no figures were discussed.
This position is understandable. With Liverpool struggling to achieve glory domestically and in Europe for the time being, they will need to lose their vice-captain influence mid-season, even if the prospect of his departure to the team in the summer looms. If Alexander-Arnold plays a major role in Liverpool’s conquest of a high-flying crown and/or a seventh European Cup, this would give the club more economic advantages than accepting relief prices before the window closed on Monday, February 3 and 3.
It might be different if all the uncertainty was proving a distraction but Slot has been delighted by Alexander-Arnold’s form and focus.
His commitment to the Liverpool cause was underlined after the October international break, when he continued to play for the club despite suffering a side strain during England’s game in Finland. Conor Bradley, his deputy at right-back, was also injured at the time and Alexander-Arnold was determined to keep playing, and received painkilling injections before matches to manage the issue.
Alexander-Arnold perfectly appreciates his football under the slot device and the player has no doubt that Liverpool will benefit from significant good fortune under the Dutch manager, who succeeded Jurgen Klopp last summer.
“The detail that has makes me smile because it is the kind of things that I appreciate,” he recently told the British channel Sky Sports. “It’s simply football at a very, very deep point.
“I can tell you for the first time that I met him that I’m going to enjoy the game underneath him and be a component of that. I feel like I’m getting older and learning so much in such a short time era and proceeding to learn, because I can tell he’s obsessed with football and the incredible point of detail. “
“Listen, I’ve been at the club for 20 years. I signed 4 or five contract extensions and none of them played in public. And this last one won’t be either,” Alexander-Arnold said after Liverpool’s 3-0 victory over Bournemouth at Anfield in September.
He has stuck rigidly to that stance. While Salah and Van Dijk have since spoken publicly about their own contract situations and their wish to stay at Anfield, Alexander-Arnold has kept his counsel. Out of respect to his boyhood club, he believes the process should be conducted privately throughout — even if that leaves him open to criticism at times as the impasse continues.
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After scoring the fourth purpose in a 5-0 defeat of West Ham United last Sunday, he celebrated when making a ring gesture with his hand, a reaction to the hypothesis of his future.
Liverpool’s technique has been similar, with Slot continually brushing off questions about the prestige of their key trio’s contract. Asked about Alexander-Arnold’s hand gesture at West Ham, he told reporters: “I don’t think it’s negative at all. He’s playing well, he got a wonderful goal and the way he celebrated his goal probably tells you enough, so I don’t think I want to say much more.
Hughes hasn’t spoken publicly since Slot’s unveiling at the club’s Kirkby training ground in July. It’s unclear how far apart the two parties have been financially in terms of what’s on the table and what is being sought.
In the same interview in September, Alexander-Arnold said he wanted to be “a Liverpool player this season” at least. He also insisted that the “main factor” of his resolution would be the search for trophies.
He has since spoken of his preference to become the first back to win the Ballon d’Or, telling Sky Sports in October: “I need that legacy of being the greatest right-back to have played football. I have to be successful in the stars and that’s where I can go my roof. “
Too soon to say. Certainly, trying to sign a like-for-like replacement would be almost impossible given the special skill set of Alexander-Arnold, who has scored 20 goals and contributed 84 assists in 333 appearances for the club, a period in which he has won virtually every major trophy and made himself one of the most coveted talents in world football.
However, Liverpool are blessed to have a gifted backup in Bradley. The 21-year-old Northern Ireland international already has 40 senior appearances for the club under his belt and has proved he can impact games at the highest level both offensively and defensively. Bradley is due back in action in January after a hamstring injury.
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If Alexander-Arnold does leave, Hughes and Slot will need to decide whether to spend big on a high-profile successor or bring someone in to both compete with and ease the burden on Bradley.
The Athletic reported in early December that both players had received contract offers but no breakthroughs had been achieved as talks continued.
Its scenario has been perceived differently from Alexander-Arnold, given his advanced age and prestige as two of the best paid players in the club. Liverpool is reluctant to dedicate giant cash sums to long extensions for players who believe they are in the twilight of their careers.
However, the contraction of Salah and Van Dijk Soo this season has underlined the importance of retaining its services. Assistance in all competitions. Van Dijk is a year greater than the Egyptian, but their powers do not show signs of decrease. The Dutchman has been remarkable in the center of the defense of Liverpool, and Slot also praised the leadership he shows outside the field .
Salah hasn’t been shy to use the media at times to crank up the pressure on the club. Asked by Sky Sports after the win over West Ham if he was able to provide some good news on the ongoing discussions, he said: “No. We’re far away from that. Nothing has really moved on. For now, the only thing on my mind is Liverpool winning the league and I want to be part of that.”
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Van Dijk was more diplomatic when asked about his future, but made it clear that he believes he can continue to play at the top for the next 3 or 4 years.
“I love the club, the club loves me,” he told Amazon Broadcaster ahead of this opposite boxing adjustment to Leicester. As with Salah, his preference is at Anfield.
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Nobody involved views January 1 as some kind of cut-off point. But the ongoing lack of clarity regarding three key personnel heading into the new year will provide encouragement to rivals eyeing the chance to try to prise them away.
Additional reporting: David Ornstein
(Top photo: Julian Finney/Getty Images)