Real Madrid and Barcelona eye summer transfer for €80m Liverpool star

Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid are eyeing moves for Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold, reports suggest.

According to Mundo Deportivo, the right-back ‘would not look badly at a change of scenery to relaunch his career’ amid a difficult campaign at Anfield.

Alexander-Arnold is a key player in Jurgen Klopp’s side after coming through the club’s academy ranks. Since making his first-team breakthrough in the 2016-17 season, he’s won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, Carabao Cup, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup with his boyhood club.

In total, the 24-year-old has made 265 appearances for the Reds, scoring 15 goals and registering 67 assists.

However, England international - much like most of his Liverpool team-mates - has been below his best this campaign. His defensive attributes have been questioned by several pundits including the likes of Kop legend Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville.

With Barcelona in the market for a right-back in the summer transfer window, Nou Camp boss Xavi is said to be an admirer of Alexander-Arnold. Fierce La Liga rivals Real are also said to be keen to replace Dani Carvajal at the Santiago Bernabeu. A price tag of €80 million has been suggested, with Alexander-Arnold under contract at Anfield until the summer of 2025.

Verdict

While Alexander-Arnold has been well short of his best this campaign, it’s highly unlikely that Liverpool would be willing to offload him.

He’s an indispensable figure on Merseyside and has been mooted as a future captain of the club. The West Derby-raised star will be very much in Klopp’s planning as he plans to rebuild his squad in the summer transfer window.

In the Reds’ past two games, Alexander-Arnold’s role has changed and he’s now moved into a central-midfield position when his side are in possession of the ball. That’s allowed his range of passing and vision to thrive and he registered two assists in the 6-1 thrashing of Leeds United on Monday night. That brought him to 50 assists in the Premier League.

On Alexander-Arnold’s performance at Elland Road, Klopp said: “He won the ball back for the first goal from that position as well, stepping really out there - it was good. Yeah, impressive. I think also the highlight was then the last pass [his assist for Nunez], but he had a few more from that position. Wherever Trent is [on the pitch] he can be decisive with his passes, he was very often for us, that’s how it is, tonight was a good game, you could see that he enjoyed it.”