Liverpool have rejected an offer from Real Madrid to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold in January, with reports in Spain alleging the ridiculous fee the Spanish club bid.
The year ended with more speculation over the future of Liverpool’s right-back, with it widely reported on Tuesday evening that Liverpool had rejected an approach from Real.
Real made their “first official move” with contact made on New Year’s Eve, according to the Times‘ Paul Joyce, as they sought a “cut-price deal.”
That was “immediately rebuffed,” with Liverpool “offering no encouragement to Real as their focus is solely on winning the Premier League.”
While Joyce reports that “the conversation did not even reach the stage at which numbers were mentioned,” there are now claims of the package Real were willing to offer.
AS, who claimed last week that “the signing is 90 percent complete” with Alexander-Arnold committed to joining in the summer, allege that a package worth around €15 million (£12.45m) was due to be presented.
That would be a fee in the region of that paid to bring Federico Chiesa to Anfield in the summer, though in a separate report Joyce suggests Real’s offer was closer to £20 million.
The sports newspaper, based in Madrid, described Real’s attempt to sign the No. 66 this month as a “trademark of the house.”
In their words, the message the Spanish champions’ offer sent was in effect: “Take this money…or lose him for free in the summer, you know what to do.”
However, even AS – who have been pushing for Alexander-Arnold’s transfer for months – note Liverpool’s belief that they have “serious options to convince him to renew” and “don’t give up” in doing so.
From an outside perspective, the optics around this approach are concerning: Real would unlikely have bid this month if the player had not given them encouragement to do so.
Jamie Carragher argued as much on X, writing: “I love Trent as a lad and a player, but his team would’ve told Real Madrid to bid and also would’ve known Liverpool would turn it down.
“It’s to try and cover themselves when he leaves for free. Again it’s something the club/fans don’t need with a huge game coming up.”
Talks are expected to continue with Alexander-Arnold and his representatives, led by his brother Tyler, but it is important to note in his case that a pre-contract agreement can now be reached with clubs outside of England.
3 minutes to name Liverpool’s 15 biggest January signings!
