Liverpool have suffered a major blow as they will lose Trent Alexander-Arnold on a free transfer in the summer with Real Madrid agreeing a deal to sign the Reds defender, according to fresh reports.
The Reds are having a wonderful season in the Premier League with Arne Slot’s side currently 12 points ahead of second-placed Arsenal as they face their final nine matches.
It would now take a monumental collapse for Liverpool to hand the title to the Gunners after only losing one Premier League match all season so far.
But Liverpool had a nightmare time of it recently as Paris Saint-Germain knocked them out of the Champions League before the international break, while Newcastle United beat them in the Carabao Cup final.
Liverpool and Slot could face some big decisions in the summer if Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah all leave at the end of their contracts.
There still hasn’t been a concrete update on the trio’s futures and there seems little hope that all three will sign on, especially as Alexander-Arnold’s potential transfer to Real Madrid has been seen as almost a certainty.
A report from Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieri emerged on Monday insisting that Alexander-Arnold had reached an agreement with Real Madrid to join them on a free transfer in the summer.
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And now talkSPORT‘s chief football correspondent Alex Crook insists that Alexander-Arnold ‘has agreed to join Real Madrid this summer’ on a free transfer from Liverpool.
It is understood that the England international ‘will leave Anfield after agreeing personal terms over a five-year deal worth in excess of £220,000-per-week with the Spanish giants in a seismic blow to Arne Slot’s side’.
That will provide Alexander-Arnold a salary of £57.2m before bonuses over the five years of the deal and ‘despite months of negotiations, the 26-year-old has opted to move to Madrid where he’ll be playing his football from next term.’
Breaking the news live on talkSPORT, Crook added: “Unlike Mo Salah, he’s not really commented publicly on his contract situation.
“I think he’s tried to be as respectful as possible and he didn’t want to cause any sort of distraction to Liverpool’s title challenge.”
When asked about his future back in September, Alexander-Arnold said: “The most important thing is always trophies. I want to win trophies.
“We were close to the title last season and we got a cup. The [quadruple] was on for a while I suppose. This season we are looking really good, it is still early days, but we need a lot of consistency.
“It will be difficult but we are looking to win as many trophies as we can.”
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