Liverpool boss Arne Slot has opened up about conversations he had with Trent Alexander-Arnold in pre-season ahead of his final game at Anfield.
After an endless stream of reports, Alexander-Arnold confirmed his departure from Liverpool earlier this month – announcing he will be leaving on a free transfer when his contract expires.
Although Liverpool were able to tie down Mo Salah and Virgil van Dijk to new contracts, Alexander-Arnold did not come to an agreement and is now poised to join England teammate Jude Bellingham at Real Madrid.
Liverpool have fans have not reacted well to the decision and loudly booed Alexander-Arnold when he came on against Arsenal on 11 May.
The boyhood Liverpool fan was an unused substitute against Brighton and Slot has refused to confirm whether he will be involved against Crystal Palace, when Liverpool will lift a historic 20th league title at Anfield.
He again fielded plenty of questions about the 26-year-old in his latest press conference, where the Dutchman revealed he has spent a lot of time chatting to Alexander-Arnold in his office during his final days as a Liverpool player.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was an unused substitute against Brighton. Image: Getty
“There are circumstances for me to talk with him, than with Virgil for example. So yes, I am talking to him and that is the biggest difference and all the ones that have a purple bin. I speak to the human being Trent Alexander-Arnold and that I think combined with winning something together creates a different bond than maybe the fans have with him.
“I do talk to him, quite a lot actually. Although when we started pre-season he was in my office quite a lot for other reasons and now he’s in my office quite a lot as well.
“I think Mo already said a few things about why he was in my office in pre-season and there were similar reasons why Trent was in my office in the beginning of the season.”
Then came the most surprising revelation from Slot, who gave a “gift” of sorts to Alexander-Arnold’s new manager Xabi Alonso by telling all about the discussions the two had in pre-season.
Slot admitted he had some issues with Alexander-Arnold on the training ground early on and also made an honest comment about his defending – an area where he has been widely criticised throughout his career.
Slot added: “Maybe he said it himself, he’s going to leave anyway so why not tell it. Maybe it’s already the first gift I can give Xabi Alonso. I wasn’t completely happy with every single minute how he was on the training ground. In my opinion, in certain moments he could do it a bit more. To put it mildly. That’s what we talked about it, combined with, I said to him, ‘you’re a much better defender than everyone tells you, unfortunately you don’t show it all the time’.
“‘That’s why people say sometimes say you’re not, this is a part of your game you need to improve. If you’re just at it, you’re focused and concentrated, there are not many players that can go around him’.”
Despite the negativity surrounding the manner of his exit, Alexander-Arnold is still on the club’s official Player of the Year shortlist.
