Diogo Jota has picked the perfect Christmas present for Trent Alexander-Arnold, telling the right-back it will be “so he can sign his contract” at Liverpool.
Alexander-Arnold’s future remains unknown heading towards the end of 2024, with no indication yet that he will sign a new deal.
From January 1 him, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah will be permitted to hold formal contract talks with clubs outside of England, but Liverpool remain hopeful of tying all three down beyond the end of the season.
The rest of the squad are clearly eager to keep the key trio, too, as Jota summed up in a video with Sky Sports ahead of Christmas.
Asked by reporter Harriet Prior what he would give Alexander-Arnold for Christmas, the striker had the perfect idea.
“What would I buy Trent? Paper and a pen, so he can sign his contract!” he replied.
According to Sky Sports’ Melissa Reddy, talks with the representatives of Liverpool’s No. 66 have been “very positive,” though it is “more of a complex situation” than that of Van Dijk and Salah.
“My information has been very consistent and that is that talks remain ongoing between Liverpool and the representatives of Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold to give them new contracts,” Reddy explained earlier this month.
“The dialogue has been very positive, it’s been moving forward, it’s been held in a very respectful manner from all sides.
“Because ultimately, Liverpool want to do right by the players, but also on the club themselves.”
However, Reddy added that Real Madrid have “huge interest” in the 26-year-old, saying: “With Trent it’s going to take a lot more elbow grease.
“It might be a lot more expensive to get that deal over the line, given his age, given what he means to this club.”
Jota admitted that the No. 66 had not been in the festive spirit so far this year, but joining Prior later in the video, Alexander-Arnold was asked to pick one teammate he’d want to spend Christmas with.
“I’d say Robbo,” he replied.
“Our most important thing about Christmas Day is the food. We have a huge debrief, we talk about what we’re going to have, how it went.
“Normally we travel Christmas night or we see each other early Boxing Day and that’s the first question we ask.
“Not ‘what did you get?’ – ‘how was your dinner?’.”
