- Trent Alexander-Arnold’s current contract expires in June 2025
- He is 100 days away from being able to speak with foreign clubs about the terms of his signing.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold had spent the afternoon attacking hard, driving Bournemouth into distraction, and things weren’t going to change now the game was over.
The Liverpool right-back is 100 days away from being able to talk to foreign clubs about signing terms with them next summer and there is no sign that the uncertainty surrounding his future will suddenly end with the presentation of a new deal at Anfield.
For high-profile players who find themselves in situations like this, there are two possible paths to take. The first involves avoiding all media engagements and keeping one’s mouth shut. The other is to be open, clear and in control. It was no surprise, then, to see which option Alexander-Arnold chose.
“Look, I’ve been at the club for 20 years now,” Alexander-Arnold replied when asked directly about his situation. “I’ve signed four or five contract renewals and none of them have been made public, and this one won’t be either.”
“I’ve always said I want to be captain of the club. It’s my aim and my goal, but it’s not in my hands whether that happens or not. I want to be a Liverpool player this season (at least), that’s what I’ll say. The most important thing is always the trophies, to be honest. This season we’re looking very good.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold has said his future at Liverpool is something that is out of his hands
Questions have been swirling around his future at the club with his contract expiring in 2025.
It would clearly be a disaster if Arne Slot (right) could not maintain this local pulse (left) in his team.
Whether that will calm the nerves of those fearing Alexander-Arnold will be in the open arms of Real Madrid next summer remains to be seen. Alexander-Arnold is a rare gem and his performance in a thumping 3-0 win, secured by a Luis Díaz brace and a Darwin Núñez strike, caught the eye again and again.
The highlight was the sweeping cross-field run and pass that provided Diaz with his second goal in two thrilling minutes, an assist that means he has now been involved in 100 Liverpool goals; few creative midfielders would have such prolific numbers.
It would obviously be a disaster if Liverpool could not maintain this home-field pulse, but one thing that is in their favour is the relationship they are building with coach Arne Slot: the change in the dugout has not been disturbing. If anything, it is quite the opposite.
Alexander-Arnold has started this campaign in fine fettle, shining like a beacon in Nations League fixtures against the Republic of Ireland and Finland for England, as well as for Liverpool. Slot is certainly one of his fans, but he has not taken his side by flattering the player’s ego.
“It’s really rewarding to have a coach who helps me, guides me and teaches me to be a better player,” the 25-year-old said. “I’m a person who wants to learn, who wants to be the best and who strives to be the best of all time.”
“It’s really refreshing to have a coach who helps me, guides me and teaches me how to be better as a player,” the 25-year-old said in Slot.
Alexander-Arnold (pictured) revealed he told Slot to be “tough” on him in team meetings if he had not performed well.
Slot is certainly in the defender’s fan club, but he has not taken his side by massaging the player’s ego.
You might assume he will reach such high levels thanks to what he does in the opposition’s dangerous areas, but that is a mistake. Defenders, regardless of their position, will be judged by what happens in front of their own goal and Slot was delighted with the change of his number 66 against Bournemouth.
“We talked about objectives and targets and I told him I’d like to be the defender no one wants to face in Europe,” said Alexander-Arnold, who is understandably proud of Liverpool’s start of just one goal conceded in five Premier League games.
‘We agreed that he will be tough on me. If ever an attacker gets the better of me, he will say it in the (team) meetings and in the individual meetings and say that it cannot happen. We analyse all the games together and he highlights where he wants me to improve.
“Even in the AC Milan game (last Tuesday) we had about 20 clips going over what I could have done better and also the good bits. Defences win championships, that’s the old saying, and being part of that defence means I have a responsibility to make sure my winger doesn’t get left out in the cold.”