Trent's exit four years in the making and the Reds could not stop it

EYEBROWS were raised when Trent Alexander-Arnold signed his last contract with Liverpool in July 2021.

- By THEO SQUIRES

Not because he'd agreed fresh terms for the third time in four years, far from it, but rather the length of his new deal caught the eye.

After a difficult season, the Reds were in the process of tying down a number of their key players who had been crucial to winning the Champions League and Premier League.

That summer alone, Jordan Henderson, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson, Alisson Becker, Fabinho, Harvey Elliott and Caoimhin Kelleher all signed new, long-term contracts.

Alisson agreed the longest deal, committing his future until 2027 as he signed a six-year contract. Robertson, Fabinho, Elliott and Kelleher were all tied down for a further five years until 2026.

Van Dijk and Henderson, both past 30, agreed new four-year contracts.

But so too did a then 22-year-old Alexander-Arnold.

Its disparity did not go unnoticed, with it curious at the time why the full-back's contract length was shorter.

While Robertson, Alisson and Fabinho were committing their best years to the Reds, Alexander-Arnold's new contract would only take him to the cusp of his peak years with plenty more still to come.

Perhaps Liverpool's intention was in acknowledgement of the future need to renegotiate sooner with the England international, well-aware that his status in the squad would have grown in four years.

Sure enough, come 2023, he was appointed vice-captain and seemed destined to become the next Liverpool skipper.

But that shorter contract ultimately opened the door to Real Madrid and allowed Alexander-Arnold to slip through Reds' fingers, with the 26-year-old now Bernabeu-bound after confirming he will leave his boyhood club at the end of his contract.

Having previously signed deals in July 2017 and January 2019, it's said the England international had expected to be back around the negotiating table in the summer of 2023 - especially after being named vice-captain.