Alexander-Arnold’s possible move to Madrid ‘doesn’t affect me at all,’ says Liverpool manager

Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold

Liverpool’s bid to clinch a record-tying Premier League title hasn’t been affected by persistent reports linking Trent Alexander-Arnold with a move to Real Madrid at the end of the season, manager Arne Slot said yesterday.

Sections of the British media reported during the international break that Madrid is in discussions about finalizing a deal to bring in Alexander-Arnold, who is in the last year of his contract at Liverpool and would be available on a free transfer. Neither club has publicly commented on a potential deal.

Slot said his club has lived the entire season with speculation about Alexander-Arnold as well as both Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, who are also out of contract at the end of the season.

“It’s a situation that is there for eight or nine months now,” Slot said, “and I think all these three players have performed so well under these circumstances, so it doesn’t affect me at all.”

Slot said there would not have been so much talk about Alexander-Arnold in recent weeks had he been fit and played for England in World Cup qualifiers. Instead, he is recovering from hurting his ankle when Liverpool was eliminated from the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain on March 11.

That means Alexander-Arnold will miss the Premier League game against local rival Everton on Wednesday. Ahead of the midweek round, Liverpool leads by 12 points over second-place Arsenal with nine games remaining as the clubs looks to a seal a 20th English league title, tying the record with Manchester United.

“He is injured,” Slot said of Alexander-Arnold, “and that means for him he is fully focused on his recovery and for us it means we are trying to help him to be back as soon as he can. For the rest, for the last eight months, it went up and down maybe with all the talks about him, Virgil or Mo, but we have never been focused on those talks.

“We have been focused on what we have to do. For Virgil and Mo, that is trying to win the Merseyside derby and for Trent it is making sure he is fit as soon as he can (be).”

The 26-year-old Alexander-Arnold has played his entire career at Liverpool and won every major honor with the Merseyside club, including the Premier League and Champions League. MDT/AP