Arne Slot has been told that Liverpool will not miss Trent Alexander-Arnold if the full-back ends up joining Real Madrid in the summer.
Alexander-Arnold is one of three key Liverpool players — along with Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk — whose contracts are set to expire at the end of the season, and the right-back will be free to sign a pre-contract agreement with Madrid from January 1.
Conor Bradley started ahead of Alexander-Arnold against Madrid in midweek, and Reds great Mark Lawrenson believes having players like Bradley means that the team will be just fine if Alexander-Arnold ends up leaving,
“Conor Bradley has done well, and that’s because he’s playing with plenty of freedom," Lawrenson told Paddy Power. "Unfortunately for him, he knows that when Trent Alexander-Arnold is back from injury, he’ll go straight into the team, meaning that Bradley isn’t under any pressure when he plays.
“If Trent leaves Liverpool in the summer, the club would be absolutely fine with their replacements as they’ve got Conor Bradley and Joe Gomez, who are both great players.”
Liverpool is still hopeful of tying Alexander-Arnold down to a contract extension, but reports in Spain suggest Madrid is confident of landing the player on a free transfer next summer.
Alexander-Arnold has not had much to say about where he wants to be playing next season and beyond, and said in September that he had no intention of letting negotiations over an extension with Liverpool play out in public.
"I want to be a Liverpool player this season [as a minimum] is what I will say," the 26-year-old said. "I have been at the club 20 years now. I have signed four or five contract extensions and none of those have been played out in public - and this one won't be either."
That is in contrast to Van Dijk and Salah, who have both publicly suggested that they want to stay at Liverpool.
Last weekend, Salah put the ball firmly in Liverpool's court in contract negotiations as he said "there's no club like this" but claimed he was yet to receive an offer to renew.
While in the same interview, Salah said that he was "more out than in", many have suggested that his comments were designed to draw an improved offer out of the club.
Van Dijk, meanwhile, is seemingly the closest to signing a new contract with the Reds, with reports this week suggesting an announcement over an extension for the Dutchman is getting closer.