Even when they are not facing each other on the pitch, the fates of Liverpool and Real Madrid have been regularly intertwined in recent times. And this week we have seen further evidence of that claim. With neither club willing to pay Lille’s asking price for young centre-back Leny Yoro, Manchester United have had to fork out the £52m required to bring the 18-year-old to Old Trafford.
It was a rare example of both Liverpool and Real Madrid seriously considering signing a player but the Bernabeu team not being particularly attractive. Last year it had been Jude Bellingham and, 12 months earlier, Aurelien Tchouameni.
This has angered a section of the Reds’ supporters, who are already scared by the lack of new faces at Anfield this summer, despite sporting director Richard Hughes indicating he does not expect much movement until late July and August.
With United, neighbours City and Chelsea finally starting to flex their financial muscles during the transfer window, those concerns have only grown in recent days.
But the real concern that is emerging is not the arrival, but the possible departure of one of the most influential players of the Jürgen Klopp era. And, once again, it is Real Madrid that is causing the problem.
Rumours about Real Madrid’s interest in Trent Alexander-Arnold have multiplied considerably since the end of the European Championship, a competition in which the Liverpool player’s experiment in midfield was cut short almost immediately. It has even been claimed that the Spanish side have been in contact with the player’s entourage for several weeks.
What is not in doubt is that Alexander-Arnold now has less than 12 months left on his contract and, with each passing day, his transfer value will decrease until he can leave as a free agent next summer.
Of course, Liverpool have been through this before, and the comparison between past and present should serve as a warning to the Reds about Real Madrid’s long history of being able to pick up top talent from rival clubs for relatively minimal cost.
In 2004, Michael Owen had entered the final year of his contract at Liverpool without showing any sign of agreeing a new deal when Real sensed their opportunity and tabled an £8m bid that was enough to sign the Reds’ top scorer in each of the previous six seasons.
And in 1999, Steve McManaman became one of the first high-profile England players to take advantage of the Bosman ruling (which allowed players to leave a club for nothing when their contract ended) by turning down a new contract and moving to the Bernabeu instead.
There are further similarities with Alexander-Arnold’s situation. Owen left shortly after Gerard Houllier, a key mentor in his career, was replaced by Rafael Benitez as manager, while McManaman left at the end of the season. Roy Evans, a key figure in his development, left after more than 30 years at Liverpool.
Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, will surely take into account the departure at the end of last season of Klopp, the manager who gave him his first-team debut, made him a regular in the first team, was a driving force behind the player in turning him into the most creative attacking right-back in the world and who then changed his tactical approach to extract even more from the 25-year-old by appointing him vice-captain. Now, more than ever, it would seem a natural time for the defender to make any move away from Anfield.
Much will be made of the close friendship between Bellingham and Alexander-Arnold, but that did not convince the former to join the latter at Liverpool last season. It will not be a factor that will have much influence on what the Reds man decides to do next.
The next few weeks will be crucial in defining Alexander-Arnold’s future, however. Talks will be held with Hughes and the Anfield hierarchy over the offer of a new contract, but equally important will be the vision that new boss Arne Slot outlines for tactics, recruitment and the player’s long-term position.
Whatever happens, Liverpool have to ask themselves why Alexander-Arnold’s contract situation has been allowed to get to this point. Yes, there has been a major shake-up behind the scenes that has taken on a clear priority over the past eight months. And, with Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah in a similar position, Alexander-Arnold is not the only current member of the squad whose future needs urgent attention.
But there is a danger that history could repeat itself for Liverpool. While Van Dijk and Salah are nearing the end of their respective glittering careers, Alexander-Arnold is only just reaching his prime. And the fact that he is a homegrown talent could count against him. Both McManaman and Steven Gerrard believed the club were taking them for granted because of their home loyalties when their respective contract negotiations dragged on, and only a very late change of heart prevented the latter from following in the former’s footsteps and leaving.
Even if Alexander-Arnold rejects a new contract, there is no guarantee that the Reds will be forced to cash in this summer. Liverpool have shown several times under Klopp that they have no qualms about holding on to players who are nearing the end of their contracts, rather than looking to offload them for well below their value. And Real Madrid, as has been demonstrated with Yoro, would prefer not to have to spend large sums on players they can buy for free 12 months later.
Alexander-Arnold is likely to remain at Liverpool this season. However, what happens after that will be a major test for both the Reds’ new power brokers and new boss Slot. Time is ticking.
