Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold
Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold (Image: Ryan Crockett/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
It is as tiresome as it is inevitable. The departure of Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool hasn't even been confirmed yet and already some are aggressively jabbing the finger of blame in the direction of those deemed responsible.
For some, the fault lies entirely with the Reds and their owners Fenway Sports Group for the inertia and change behind the scenes that allowed the contracts of Alexander-Arnold - along with those of Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah - to run down into their final 12 months and prompt the possibility of leaving on a free transfer.
Others, though, are unhappy at Alexander-Arnold himself for seemingly turning down the opportunity to extend his career at his boyhood club and, more pertinently, refusing to acknowledge the situation this season and therefore permit it to fester until the latest crescendo this week.
Related Articles
Jarell Quansah transfer rumours point to something bizarre happening to Liverpool
Jeremie Frimpong, Trent Alexander-Arnold replacements - Liverpool transfer plans explained
With nothing signed, sealed or delivered between Alexander-Arnold and Real Madrid, it's not entirely beyond the realms of possibility the right-back remains at Liverpool next season.
But with the silence deafening from the player's camp and the congratulatory noises growing out of Spain, even supporters who have had their fingers in their ears and head in the sand over Alexander-Arnold's situation are starting to accept he will most likely end up at Real Madrid.
That Liverpool face the prospect of losing one of the best and most valuable players without any transfer fee is what is truly sticking in the craw for some.
But the question really is - why would Alexander-Arnold want to move to the Bernabeu in the first place? That his close friend Jude Bellingham plays for Real Madrid isn't near sufficient to explain such a reasoning.
This, then, comes down to the supposed myth-like magic of pulling on the Real Madrid shirt - a phenomenon that supporters of all clubs, including Liverpool, are guilty of fuelling.
Every club has its own story, and many are significantly more enchanting than that of how Real ended up with a reputation-defining five European Cup triumphs before most of the rest of the Continent had fully embraced the competition. It was telling Real, after a sixth win in 1966, weren't European champions again for another 22 years.
This century, the ill-fated galacticos experiment and the single-minded Florentino Perez era have strengthened the myth - and let's not forget, the definition of that means a widely held but false belief - that Real Madrid are the ultimate football club.
They are not. No club is. But building that perception - perhaps Real Madrid's greatest-ever achievement - means they believe they now hold all the cards and have a sense of entitlement to go with it. For them, it's baffling players such as Alexander-Arnold wouldn't want to sign up.
But Real Madrid are ultimately one of a group of successful, trophy-winning clubs of which Liverpool are very much a part. It makes them direct rivals for major honours - and it's there where the Reds should have genuine reason for concern.
Liverpool have taken on Real Madrid in two of the last seven Champions League finals and faced them in the competition on three other occasions, most recently winning 2-0 at Anfield in November. If that's not the definition of being a direct rival, then what is?
Of course, that wasn't the case when several other leading Liverpool players previously left for the Bernabeu. Steve McManaman swapped an underwhelming Reds team in 1999 on a free for Real Madrid where he won the European Cup twice.
Michael Owen, into the last 12 months of his Anfield contract, left at the start of the Rafael Benitez era from a Liverpool team that had scraped fourth and Champions League qualification the previous season, while Xabi Alonso became a European champion at Real Madrid after exiting at the beginning of the end of Benitez's tenure.
Alexander-Arnold, though, has won every major honour at Liverpool and is likely to leave with another Premier League winners' medal around his neck. And while there has been a suggestion he wants to move to bolster his Ballon d'Or hopes, surely no footballer seeks a transfer with that as a priority.
The bottom line is Alexander-Arnold has more than done his bit for Liverpool and his legacy at the club, forged over the past eight years, is forever assured. The issue for the Reds now is the prospect of losing one of their best players to a club that next season they will once again be looking to overcome.