Real Madrid are working to close a deal to sign Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold as a free agent in the summer.
The La Liga side have been monitoring Alexander-Arnold for two years and doing everything in their power since January to convince him to join at the end of this season. They will have to inform their Premier League counterparts if and when a deal is signed, which has not happened yet.
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Alexander-Arnold’s Liverpool contract is scheduled to expire in June and he has been permitted sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club since the start of 2025.
The Athletic reported in October that Madrid had made the 26-year-old a priority target before they saw an approach to sign him in January knocked back.
Alexander-Arnold is one of three crucial players — alongside Premier League top scorer Mohamed Salah and club captain Virgil van Dijk — whose existing terms at Anfield end in the summer.
The Athletic reported on December 4 that Liverpool had made a contract offer to Van Dijk and on December 8 that the club had made an opening contract offer for Salah. Van Dijk said before the international break that he had “no idea” about his long-term Liverpool future.
Having come through the club’s academy, Alexander-Arnold has made 349 Liverpool appearances, scoring 22 goals and providing 87 assists.
The England international played an integral role in ending Liverpool’s wait for a first Premier League title in 2019-20 and won the PFA young player of the year award for his performances that season.
Alexander-Arnold has won the Champions League, FA Cup and two League Cups during his 19 years at the club, having joined the academy aged six. He was named vice-captain by former manager Jurgen Klopp in 2023 following the departure of Jordan Henderson, with Van Dijk assuming the armband.
Analysis
By Liverpool correspondent Andy Jones
All three of Liverpool’s key contract situations have taken different paths over the course of the season, and while Alexander-Arnold has chosen to not discuss it publicly, when Madrid are involved the noise is impossible to stop.
There has been a growing feeling that this could be the right-back’s final season at Anfield, and it is now at a point where clarity is required on all three of the contract situations because summer planning needs to be finalised.
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Madrid failed with an enquiry for Alexander-Arnold ahead of the January transfer window. Liverpool stood firm, preferring to keep the player as they mounted their title challenge and risk losing him for free.
Due to the strong position Arne Slot’s side find themselves in, and the constant reports and speculation, it would probably serve all parties — clubs, player and supporters — to know where they stand heading into the final stretch of the campaign.
The backlash Alexander-Arnold experienced shortly after Madrid’s enquiry following a poor performance in the 2-2 draw against Manchester United makes it understandable why the silence has continued for so long. Nobody wants a repeat of that if Liverpool start labouring in their bid to seal the title.
Alexander-Arnold’s current injury — he suffered a high ankle sprain in the home defeat by Paris Saint-Germain earlier this month — would give everybody time to come to terms with the decision, if he is to leave, and ideally part ways on good terms.
Not all supporters will accept his decision, but Liverpool need to make strengthening the right-back department a priority in the upcoming transfer window. If work wasn’t underway already, then it has to accelerate as soon as possible.
(James Baylis – AMA/Getty Images)
