Liverpool is sweating on the future of Trent Alexander-Arnold. But amid movement from Real Madrid, the defender has already told Arne Slot how to get him to stay .
According to The Athletic , Real Madrid has made Alexander-Arnold a "priority target". It wants to sign him on a free transfer, with his Liverpool contract set to expire next summer.
That gives Richard Hughes a little under 11 weeks to get a new deal sorted before foreign clubs, Real Madrid among them, can negotiate with the full-back. But it won't all come down to the sporting director, with Slot also having a role to play.
It's undoubtedly an unenviable position for Hughes, who has the contract situations of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk to juggle at the same time. In both of those cases, he and Michael Edwards (who is now overseeing big-picture strategy) will need to weigh up what kind of offers can be presented to players on the wrong side of 30.
The money, though, is just one factor, and that goes for Alexander-Arnold too. He has made it clear that other elements will guide his decision.
Firstly, he's made no secret of wanting to be Liverpool captain one day. "I've always said that I want to captain the club," he said recently . "That's a goal of mine but whether that happens is out of my hands to be honest."
Note the present tense: he still wants to be named captain. If that was on offer, it would surely be a tempting proposition.
Of course, this puts Slot in a potentially tricky position, given that the current captain is Van Dijk. With his future up in the air too, it's not exactly a straightforward operation to offer the armband away as part of negotiations with Alexander-Arnold.
If it came down to it, Liverpool and Slot would have to put the future of the 26-year-old over the 33-year-old. But fortunately, the captaincy will not be the defining issue.
"The most important thing is always trophies," Alexander-Arnold told Sky Sports when asked what would impact his decision. "I want to win trophies."
For some, that's code for 'I want to join Real Madrid'. And the behemoth is certainly a silverware-collecting machine, with its Champions League record especially enviable.
However, it's up to Slot to prove to Alexander-Arnold that he can win more trophies at Liverpool. If the defender can achieve all his competitive goals at his boyhood club — perhaps as captain — then it will be tough to turn down.
Liverpool.com says: Slot has made a good start when it comes to convincing Alexander-Arnold of the credentials of this new-look Liverpool setup. The team has failed to win just once all season.
And strangely enough, Slot's reaction to that loss will probably impress Alexander-Arnold as much as anything else. The coach has brought it up on many occasions, reminding reporters that it has not quite been the perfect start.
In that sense, he and Alexander-Arnold are the same, striving for perfection and aiming to win everything. Hopefully, they will work together for many years to come.
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