Real Madrid are now back in talks with Liverpool about an early release for Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Real, who want the defender to play for them at the Club World Cup which begins on June 15, have to pay Liverpool if they want to sign him before his contract expires on June 30.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold introduced for final Liverpool match against Crystal Palace!
Liverpool are under no obligation to release Alexander-Arnold before the end of June and Real will not be able to get the player early by simply offering to take him off the Reds' June wage bill.
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Liverpool players sing YNWA
Trent Alexander-Arnold was emotional as Liverpool players sang 'You'll Never Walk Alone' with the Kop after lifting their second Premier League title
The Spanish side made initial contact with Liverpool about an early release within hours of Alexander-Arnold announcing earlier this month that he would be leaving.
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Trent post-match.
Trent Alexander-Arnold reflects on his 20-year journey at Liverpool coming to an end amid his summer move to Real Madrid
Real were told that a fee must be paid and they have now returned to the negotiating table.
'Alexander-Arnold could still join Real for Club World Cup knockouts'
Sky Sports' chief reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
"If you get to the latter stages of the Club World Cup and even win it, you're going to probably make an extra £100m. And in this era of financial fair play, PSR, that is really important.
STATS
"So, Liverpool can turn around and say, 'Look, you've got to make us an offer'. I think what Real Madrid would say is, your season ends at the end of May, you're going to be paying him in June for doing nothing. If you allow him to come to us, you will be saving the wages you would be paying. Maybe that is Real Madrid's line of attack when it comes to dealing with Liverpool.
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Sam Blitz looks into Trent Alexander-Arnold's stats for Liverpool and explains why finding a replacement for the Real Madrid-bound defender will be a near-impossible task
"The other point to make is, even if he's not released in time to play in the early stages of the Club World Cup, because Real Madrid have got three group games between June 18 and June 27, he could join mid-tournament to play in the knockout stages.
GFX
"FIFA has been very, very clever, they have introduced this mid-tournament registration period. So, during the tournament, after the group stages, you can add players to your squad.
"And by then, Trent Alexander-Arnold on the 30th would be a free agent, so they could sign him up and then ring FIFA and say, can you add him to our squad list for the Club World Cup as well?"
Follow the transfer window on Sky Sports
The first of two summer transfer windows is upon us - and there is no better place than Sky Sports to get all the latest transfer news and rumours.
Use the Sky Sports app and website for all your updates in our dedicated Transfer Centre and Premier League club blogs, plus live Q&As with our reporters throughout the summer.
The Transfer Show returns to Sky Sports News from Sunday June 1 for the start of the pre-Club World Cup window and will then be on every weeknight at 5pm and 7pm until the deadline on Tuesday June 10.
The summer transfer window will open again on Monday June 16 until Monday September 1 - with the deadline brought forward to 7pm this year.