Liverpool have plenty of reasons to be positive after the early part of the new season.
The Reds have started far better than expected under Arne Slot and sit top of the Premier League after seven matches.
However, not everything is rosy at Anfield. The contract situations of captain Virgil van Dijk, vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold and star forward Mohamed Salah continue to dominate headlines.
All three players are set to leave Liverpool at the end of the current season. Losing any would massively weaken the Liverpool squad, let alone all three walking out of the door.
Nevertheless, that is exactly what could happen. With Real Madrid showing interest in Alexander-Arnold, there is perhaps the biggest worry over the Liverpool right-back.
And as the clock continues to tick down on Trent’s deal, former Liverpool players Don Hutchison and Steve Nicol have rated the chances of him signing a new deal and staying with the Reds.
Former Reds assess Trent Alexander-Arnold situation
Liverpool should never have gotten themselves into this situation. There’s no way that Alexander-Arnold’s contract should have been allowed to run within two years of expiring, let alone eight months.
But after the Liverpool owners dropped the ball, that’s where the Reds now find themselves.
And after regular right-back Dani Carvajal suffered a season-ending ACL injury last weekend, the chances of Real Madrid pushing for Alexander-Arnold feel to have increased.
Commenting on that for ESPN, both Hutchison and Nicol tried to put into percentage terms how likely it is that Trent will be a Liverpool player next season.
“Carvajal has done his ACL, I mean, that might rise, on a free, looking likely,” said Hutchison. “I want to be wrong, I will say 60 [per cent chance Alexander-Arnold leaves].
“I think it’s 50-50,” replied Liverpool legend Nicol.
“If he stays at Liverpool, great. If he goes, it has got to be Real Madrid.”
Liverpool need Alexander-Arnold breakthrough
It can already be seen that the talk around Alexander-Arnold’s contract situation is proving to be a distraction.
The 26-year-old’s circumstances have obviously been public knowledge for a long time, but since Carvajal’s injury the chatter has become relentless.
With that in mind, there needs to be some clarity of what’s going on with the Liverpool academy graduate as soon as possible.
If Alexander-Arnold is not signing a new contract and is leaving at the end of the season, then that should be communicated to put the matter to bed.
But if he is staying, then Liverpool really need to get a move on and make that all important breakthrough. This could still go either way, but as Hutchison suggests, it is starting to feel more likely that Alexander-Arnold will not be at Liverpool when the curtain comes up on 2025/26.
