It's been a long time since we heard from Trent Alexander-Arnold on his future, and the general feeling at the moment is that he is more likely to be a Real Madrid player next season than a Liverpool one.
"I have been at the club 20 years now," Alexander-Arnold said last September. "I have signed four or five contract extensions and none of those have been played out in public - and this one won't be either."
That was the last time the Reds right-back dropped a notable update about his future, and the silence in recent months has been deafening. Where Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah have both publicly stated their desire to stay at the club, Alexander-Arnold has kept schtum, and the noise coming out of Spain is that he has long since made his mind up: he wants to join Real Madrid.
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Alexander-Arnold is now into the final four months of his deal at Anfield and there is no getting away from the fact that Liverpool has blundered massively in allowing the contracts of three key players to wind down as they have.
It is no exaggeration to suggest that those three players are Liverpool's best players, and the club is taking steps to ensure it does not find itself in a similar situation with other players down the line.
Ibrahima Konate confirmed in January that he had been offered a contract extension to keep him at the club beyond the expiration date of his current deal, which is next June.
Conor Bradley's current contract, meanwhile, is due to expire the following year, and it emerged on Monday that talks are ongoing over fresh terms which would fairly reflect his standing in Arne Slot's squad.
Bradley's previous deal was signed in December 2023, before he had made his Premier League debut, and he is now a fully fledged first-team squad member.
Liverpool's keenness to tie Bradley down to a fresh deal could also indicate that the club is planning for life without Alexander-Arnold. With Liverpool potentially losing one right-back for nothing this summer, there is extra incentive to shore up in that area of the pitch and securing Bradley's services for the next few years will help do exactly that.
