UFC star Paddy Pimblett said he is “very disappointed” by the prospect of Trent Alexander-Arnold leaving Liverpool to join Real Madrid on a free transfer at the end of season.
Alexander-Arnold’s current Reds contract is due to expire on June 30 and he has been free to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with foreign clubs since January 1.
The 26-year-old has not had much to say openly about his future, stating in September that he had no intention to let his talks with the Reds play out in public.
Some media reports in Spain have suggested that Madrid is extremely confident of landing Alexander-Arnold, and it would not be a popular move with Pimblett, who likened the right-back’s situation to Steven Gerrard’s when he was a player at the club.
“His older brother went to school with me for a year,” Pimblett told AceOdds.com. “He’s from West Derby, not far from where I’m from. I don’t understand why he’d leave us now. The best team in the world.”
“[Steven] Gerrard was playing in a team ten times worse and was carrying us on his own individually, and he never left. He might have had his head turned a little bit by Mourinho and Chelsea and some other clubs, but did he leave? No. So, I just hope he stays. It’s one of them like Klopp said. Klopp said to Coutinho, ‘stay here and you can be a legend – leave and you’ll just be another player.'”
(Image: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Alexander-Arnold is one of three key players whose deals are set to expire in the summer, with the other two being Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, and Pimblett believes Van Dijk is the most important player to retain.
“I can’t see Mo Salah leaving. I can’t see Virgil van Dijk leaving,” Pimblett added. “But, the main one of the three to stay is Virgil, the heart of the team. I think Salah wants to break more records, and Virgil is gonna stay anyway. So, I think these two are staying.”
“Everyone’s like ‘oh, Liverpool are gonna be finished next season when they leave’. But everyone said we were finished this season when Klopp left. Yeah, so, let’s see what happens.”
