Jamie Carragher warns Trent Alexander-Arnold over Liverpool future - 'Who do you think you are?'

Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has warned Trent Alexander-Arnold that the reaction would be "intense" if he was to leave his boyhood club at the end of his current contract.

Alongside Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah , the Reds academy graduate is one of three senior players in Arne Slot's squad who has now entered the final year of his deal. With the possibility of the 25-year-old potentially being able to leave the club on a free transfer at the end of the current campaign, it remains to be seen whether an agreement will be struck between both parties before then.

Alexander-Arnold, who is the club vice-captain, has won practically every major honor on offer during his glittering career at Anfield so far. However, former Kop hero Carragher has issued some words of wisdom to the homegrown superstar as he admitted he felt the supporters would not judge any hypothetical departure with much sympathy.

Having played alongside fellow local-born players such as Steve McManaman, who decided to leave the club for Real Madrid on a free transfer during the prime of his career, the leading pundit admitted he is unsure how Alexander-Arnold leaving would go down on Merseyside. Speaking on the Stick to Football' podcast, he said: "I’ve been thinking about this for a couple of weeks.

"You’ve got three players—Van Dijk, Salah, and Trent—but when you're a local player at Liverpool, leaving the club is not just a decision; it's complicated. If van Dijk or Salah left on a free transfer, Liverpool fans would likely wish them well and appreciate their contributions. But with Trent, it would be different. The reaction would be much more intense."

Fellow panellist Ian Wright then interjected saying: "There’s a Steven Gerrard vibe," to which Carragher responded: "Yeah, and if you go through it, it happened to [Steve] McManaman when he went to Madrid, there was no like, 'oh good luck, you’re going to the biggest club in the world.'

"It was a bit like, 'who do you think you are going there?' Going there for free. Stevie when he [nearly] went to Chelsea ," he continued, as he recalled the ex-skipper's flirtation with a move to Stamford Bridge. "There was a two-year period of him nearly going and the fans turned [on him]. I think he [Trent] would be treated differently."

While Alexander-Arnold has remained coy on his future, fellow Reds mainstay Salah addressed his future following Liverpool's recent win over Manchester United . Admitting that no conversations have been had with him over any new deal, he confessed: "Nobody in the club talked to me yet about contracts".

As for head coach Slot, he denied that the ongoing debate over the contract situations involving the trio were becoming a distraction. He said: "It's again the boring answer you are going to get from me as long as there is no news. We don't talk about contract situations here.

"Is it a distraction? No, it isn't because I'm fully focused on the individuals and the team. They are part of the team and I'm trying to work with them in the best possible way to get the best out of them. It's not a distraction for me at all."