Arne Slot sends an emotional message to Liverpool fans over the Trent Alexander-Arnold transfer saga
Arne Slot has urged Liverpool fans to continue backing right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold as summer holiday speculation transfer to Real Madrid continues to spin.
Now in the final six months of his contract, Alexander-Arnold is subject to a Madrid’s failed approachwhich are believed to be is preparing another offer for a player they plan to get on a free transfer in the summer anyway.
Slot insisted Alexander-Arnold remains fully committed to Liverpoolbut the contract dispute has divided opinion among fans on social media. Club hero Jamie Carragher accused the right-back’s environment of encouraging the approach Madrid and deliberately disrupting preparations for Sunday’s big game against Manchester United.
In an effort to keep everyone united, Slott told a press conference: “I don’t think I need to tell our fans how to react because they’ve always been very supportive and they’ve supported their team and their players for so, so many years.
“I fully trust them that they will react in the right way, because in the six months that I have been here, we have been together all the time.
“And I think that’s something that stands out here because for so many years the team and the fans have been together. It’s created so many special games and so many special things for this club that I don’t need to tell them how they should react.”
With Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool are also struggling to secure the future of centre-back Virgil van Dijk, while Mohamed Salah continued his public pressure on the club by declaring he is in his “last year” at Liverpool due to lack of progress in negotiations on the extension.
Despite all the tension, Slott argued that the contract drama could actually benefit his side on the court.
“It might even be useful now that you ask me,” Slot explained. “Because if it’s just about how well we’re doing, then maybe I’ll have to have a meeting every week and tell the players that it’s not perfect yet and we have to do better.
“It doesn’t bother me at all. I think we get enough credit for the way we play and here in the building, me and the players, we don’t talk about those situations.
“That’s part of the job we do. In the month of January, it happens in every club in the world. People talk about: ‘Will he come in? Will he leave?’ It doesn’t bother me at all, and I don’t think about the players either.”
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