In July 2021, Trent Alexander-Arnold (TAA) signed with Liverpool a 4-year contract, with a salary of 200,000 pounds/week. The English defender, along with Salah and Van Dijk, are the three highest paid players at Anfield.
Alexander-Arnold's case is similar to Salah and Van Dijk in that all of their contracts will expire after the 2024-2025 season. However, TAA's mentality is different from the two seniors. The wing star of "Three Lions" is only 25 years old and the development path ahead is very wide. Meanwhile, Salah (32 years old) and Van Dijk (33) have both passed the slope of their careers and have little time left to play top football.
When valued in the transfer market, TAA is at the threshold of 100 million pounds. If they lose this star completely in the summer of 2025, it will be the biggest shock in the history of Liverpool's player sales. However, when looking back at the problem, it is necessary to find out why Liverpool has not yet made a move to retain its pillar?
Following Julian Ward's resignation in the summer of 2023, Jorg Schmadtke was appointed on an interim basis as Sporting Director. Schmadtke is tasked with negotiating transfers to buy players, not participating in the renewal process with existing ones. Then, when the position was officially appointed to Richard Hughes, it seemed quite late as TAA was now in the final year of its contract.
For that reason, rumors of Alexander-Arnold moving to Real Madrid in the summer of 2025 have surfaced. Almost no player in the world can resist the invitation from Los Blancos. Kylian Mbappe waited until his contract with PSG ended to join Real for free. Alexander-Arnold can also learn this way to land at the Bernabeu.
As for TAA, the 25-year-old star refused to answer any questions about the future and only focused on playing soccer. He played well in the early days when Arne Slot joined the team. The 2-0 victory over rookie Ipswich Town on the opening day of the Premier League also made a huge impression on this winger.
Currently, Alexander-Arnold is Liverpool 's vice-captain , he also has great responsibility in the dressing room. Therefore, it is not easy psychologically to get rid of it no matter what.
As for Liverpool, behind the scenes, they have a very good relationship with Alexander-Arnold's family. Both sides agreed to keep all negotiations between The Kop and TAA confidential. As for teacher Arne Slot, this strategist once openly talked about his admiration for his student's talent.
Not only professionally, Alexander-Arnold also helps Liverpool become more popular in media and brand marketing. In a recent advertising campaign, this defender cooperated with Adidas. The Kop is urgently negotiating with Nike to extend the sponsorship period until the end of the 2025-2026 season.
With a star like TAA who has proven his class, if Liverpool uses him to promote famous brands, the ripple effect will be very strong. Therefore, The Kop has a reason to tie up their star as quickly as possible.
