Arne Slot fails to rule out Alexander-Arnold sale in January as Madrid prepare improved offer

Arne Slot said Trent Alexander-Arnold ‘is playing on Sunday’ when he was asked whether the Liverpool star could be sold in January to Real Madrid, who are reportedly prepared to up the ante.

Alexander-Arnold is out of contract at Liverpool in the summer, and the Reds have failed in their attempts to persuade the academy graduate to extend his deal at Anfield.

He can talk to foreign suitors this month and it’s been widely accepted that he will move to Real Madrid in the summer, before a bombshell report on New Year’s Eve claimed the Spanish giants were willing to pay Liverpool a fee to sign him in the current transfer window.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein said Real Madrid made an ‘approach to sign Alexander-Arnold’, but this was ‘immediately rejected’ by Liverpool. He explained:

‘Liverpool have turned down an approach from Real Madrid to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold in January.

‘The England international has been heavily linked with a move to the Bernabeu when his contract expires next summer and the Spanish club have now made their interest official.

‘Real Madrid contacted the Anfield hierarchy to establish whether Liverpool were prepared to sell Alexander-Arnold to them during the winter window. However, no figures were discussed with Liverpool making it clear that they have no interest in negotiating the 26-year-old’s exit in January.’

Asked about Alexander-Arnold’s future ahead of their clash with Manchester United on Sunday, Slot said: “I completely understand the question and why you ask it but you already know the answer, these conversations I have never shared, not about Trent not about any others, about what I talk to them about.

“If it would destabilise players at Liverpool if other people talk about them then we would really have a problem because if you play at one of the biggest clubs in the worldeverybody is always – for 12 months long – talking about you, sometimes in relation to other clubs.

“That happens so, so many times for our players so if that destabilises them then we really would have had a problem not only now but in the last six months because there were some talks about our players in the last six months and I don’t think it destabilised them at all.”

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Slot was then asked specifically about the possibility of Alexander-Arnold leaving in January and skirted the question.

On the potential of him leaving in January, Slot added: “I can tell you he is playing on Sunday (against Manchester United) and hopefully he brings the same performances as he brought in for the last half-year because everybody saw how great a first half of the season he had, how much he is here, how much he wants to win here.

“He played an incredible game against West Ham, we all remember the pass he gave to Mo. I see him on the training ground every day working his a*** off. He is fully committed to us and he will play on Sunday – if they don’t tell me he is sick but I don’t expect them to.”

Slot’s comments come amid claims that Madrid are considering returning with another enquiry for Alexander-Arnold, and are willing to pay £20.7m to get the deal done this month.