Not content with being about to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold on a free transfer, Real Madrid have made an additional request to Liverpool which’d involve the Premier League champions obligingly rolling over to have their tummies tickled.
The 26-year-old will walk away from his boyhood club at the end of his contract on 30 June, although Los Blancos are hopeful of fast-tracking his arrival so that he can be registered in time for next month’s Club World Cup.
The Reds are set to demand a €1m (£840,000) compensation fee from the LaLiga giants in order to grant him an early release for the FIFA tournament, but Los Blancos aren’t playing ball with their Merseyside counterparts.
Real Madrid want Liverpool to release Trent early without compensation
On Wednesday afternoon, The Telegraph reported that Real Madrid have asked Liverpool to not only let Alexander-Arnold cancel his contract early, but to do so without having to pay anything to the Premier League champions.
Bernabeu chiefs had contacted the Merseysiders last week and, rather than negotating a nominal fee which could be paid to permit him to play in the Club World Cup, they simply asked if they could have him before the tournament for free.
There have been suggestions that the 26-year-old could forego his wages for the final month of his existing contract, but that can’t happen without LFC’s consent as they hold his registration until the end of June.
Liverpool mustn’t give into brazen Real Madrid request
Just who the hell do Real Madrid think they are?
If they were willing to compensate Liverpool to allow for an early release so that Alexander-Arnold can play in the Club World Cup, we’d have no complaints there, but to request him to sack off the final month of his contract and not pay anything to his current employers is brazen and shameless.
The whole saga has been bitter enough without this additional hand grenade being thrown into the mix, and we’d understand if Reds supporters just want him gone so that they can move on from the long-running soap opera and invest their time and energy into those who are committed to the Anfield cause.
If Real Madrid think they can dictate the terms of this regrettable transfer and that LFC should obediently bow to their every whim, then the Merseyside board must make them think again and not allow their club to be fobbed off by the brass-necked bunch in the Spanish capital.
Liverpool’s message should be thus – if you want to have our player for the Club World Cup, then pay up; if you’re not willing to give us a compensation fee, do without him for the tournament. No way should the Reds let themselves be bullied by the Bernabeu hierarchy.
