Real Madrid ‘breaks off negotiations’ with Liverpool as Ancelotti ‘doesn’t want’ Alexander-Arnold

Real Madrid have ended negotiations for Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold as Carlo Ancelotti ‘doesn’t want’ him, according to reports.

There have been several players linked with moves away from Anfield following Jurgen Klopp’s announcement that he will leave Liverpool at the end of the season to take a break from football.

Neil Jones: I’m not surprised to see Real Madrid linked

Klopp will bring to an end a successful nine-year spell on Merseyside with speculation that some players could review their own continuation because of his imminent departure.

Last week, Alexander-Arnold was linked to Real Madrid in the Spanish press before Fabrizio Romano and other reliable sources confirmed the La Liga side’s interest.

And now journalist Neil Jones, who has covered Liverpool for years, reckons the Reds “would be mad” to attempt to sell him before he reaches the end of his contract in 2025.

Jones wrote in his Caught Offside column: “Trent Alexander-Arnold has been linked with Real Madrid, with my fellow columnists on here, Fabrizio Romano and Matteo Moretto providing some insight into the Spanish giants monitoring his contract situation at Liverpool.

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“I personally think it is highly unlikely that Trent Alexander-Arnold will leave Liverpool this summer, but of course the longer his new contract remains unsigned, the more you start to wonder. He is due to enter his final year in June, and from the club’s perspective, that is not a situation you want to be in with regards to one of your star players.

“I’m not surprised to see Real Madrid linked. They are a club that makes a habit of targeting the best players in the world, and Alexander-Arnold is certainly one of those. As far as I’m aware, it’s no more than a ‘watching with interest’ situation, as opposed to bids, offers etc, but certainly the sooner Liverpool get Alexander-Arnold tied down to a new deal, the sooner those stories can be put to bed.

“He’s such an important player for the Reds, and a symbol of Liverpool as a club too. He is, like Steven Gerrard previously, the home-grown star who represents both the city and the club. He’s the vice-captain, and primed to take over from Virgil van Dijk as skipper one day, and on top of that, he’s a world-class performer who makes a huge difference to the team.

“At 25, Liverpool would be mad to consider selling him, and I fully expect that with Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes now in place on the football administration side, a new deal will be finalised.”

Carlo Ancelotti ‘doesn’t want’ TAA at Real Madrid

And now Spanish publication Nacional insists that Real Madrid have ‘broken off negotiations’ with Liverpool over the potential transfer of Alexander-Arnold.

It is understood that Real Madrid boss Ancelotti ‘doesn’t want’ the England international after Liverpool set an asking price of €90m (£77m) for the right-back.

Alexander-Arnold has been on the ‘agenda’ of Real Madrid president Florentino Perez for ‘a long time’ but the Reds star has now been ‘ruled out’ as Ancelotti has ‘made it clear that he does not want him in the squad’.

The legendary Italian manager ‘does not consider it necessary, and prefers to focus on reinforcing other demarcations’ and Ancelotti also views Alexander-Arnold as ‘too inconsistent, and during his career he has been especially prone to making defensive errors’.

Perez ‘does not want to finish erasing his name from the agenda’ and the report adds that ‘everything could change radically in 12 months, when Alexander-Arnold becomes free’.

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