The Sooner Trent Can Reveal His Next Move The Better... For Him And The Fans

NEXT FOR REDS: MANCHESTER UTD (H), SUNDAY 4.30PM

- IAN DOYLE

TRENT ALEXANDER- ARNOLD couldn't resist. After thumping home Liverpool's fourth goal in the Premier League romp at West Ham United on Sunday, the right-back celebrated with teammates before making a "talking" gesture with his hand.

Given just hours earlier stories in the Spanish media that he was on the verge of agreeing a move to Real Madrid when his contract expires in the summer, the inference was, to many, pretty clear.

But the clock hadn't even ticked over to the New Year when it emerged on Tuesday evening the European Super League advocates had already made the first official play in their long-standing attempt to lure Alexander-Arnold to the Bernabeu, with Liverpool flatly refusing their approach to sign the player this month.

This, then, is the beginning of the end of a contract saga in which Liverpool, for a number of reasons, have allowed control to slip out of their grasp into that of Alexander-Arnold and provide an opportunity for Real to follow their patented transfer playbook.

There's no doubt the difficult situation is primarily of the Reds' own making, different to the contract negotiations of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.

Both of those players are in their 30s and much nearer the end of their careers than the start, and will need to be treated accordingly.

That discussions are taking time is understandable.

Alexander-Arnold, though, is 26 and now approaching his prime.