REAL LIFE GETS IN THE WAY

Madrid made an offer far too good to refuse for Alexander-Arnold

- By Chris McKenna

WHEN Trent Alexander-Arnold told Arne Slot he was leaving Liverpool, it was met with the disappointment that is probably being felt across the entire red half of Merseyside right now.

The defender could not be convinced to stay — Liverpool had tried everything. The Reds offered him a package that would have made him one of the best-paid full-backs in the world, and the highest-earning one in the Premier League.

Richard Hughes made it his first duty, when he got the job as sporting director a year ago, to call Alexander-Arnold’s representatives and continue the dialogue the club had already begun on a new deal.

He wanted the player to be aware how important he was. Hughes knew the contract renewals of Mo Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold were going to be huge, and he got two of them over the line.