Madrid want £83m Liverpool star alongside Trent and Salah

When Liverpool hero Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville revised the start of the season Premier League predictions on Sky Sports, Manchester United the icon doubled down on its title-winning support Arsenal.

This is certainly brave, with the Anfield side nine points clear of the third-placed Gunners as we head into the new year, but it is a cautionary tale for those who believe in the Reds. The league is far from over, and there will certainly be upheavals.

Under Jurgen KloppLiverpool was a day late and short on the dollar in a number of battles with him Manchester City and Real Madrid for the biggest prizes, but Arne Slott has brought newfound control and consistency. There is an air of determination in this Reds team, so impressive all over the park.

Flawless at its peak Champions League also in the group stages, Liverpool are flying, and that’s all the more commendable when you consider an off-pitch distraction that would frustrate many high-level teams.

Contracts. A word that strikes fear in Merseyside. We have entered the testing area.

Where Liverpool stand in terms of contracts

2025 is upon us, and Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold they are free to negotiate with whomever they wish abroad regarding the pre-contractual agreement.

According to numerous sourcesVan Dijk and Salah are in promising positions in terms of rebuilding. Liverpool are tacitly expecting an extension despite the protracted nature of the discussions.

However, it is a different case for Alexander-Arnold, with the boyhood Liverpool fan lured by the charms of Real Madrid, in need of a right-back and stepping up to land his number one target for 2025.

The next few weeks will be crucial, but there is a resigned undercurrent around Anfield’s fan base. When Los Blancos come, they’re hard to turn down – and Trent is clearly drawn to the proposition.

However, this is not the only battle FSG have to worry about, as Real are believed to have registered an interest in another Liverpool centre-back.

Real Madrid are eyeing another Liverpool star

According to Spanish reportsReal Madrid want to shower Liverpool with further transfer misery by targeting Alexis McAllisterWHO he signed for the Anfield side from Brighton for an eye-watering £35 million in 2023

The Spaniard’s intrigue is genuine, but Liverpool have responded decisively by splashing €100m (£83m) on the Argentine star.

Mac Allister, 26, has a contract with the club until 2028, but it is recent expressed a wish to play in La Liga in the future.

Why losing Alexis Mac Allister would be bad news

Despite knocking Real Madrid out of the Champions League in November, Liverpool could feel like a punching bag, having lost two Champions League finals to them, also missing out on a few more important targets and now grappling with the prospect of losing Alexander-Arnold on free.

Should Mac Allister also go: harmful consequences for Sloto’s project. The dynamic midfielder is not always a headline-stealer, but he acts as a solvent in the centre, stingy in attack, inventive with the ball and influential in his leadership and decision-making.

However, the metric still serves to underline its value. According to FBrefMac Allister ranks in the top 5% of midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for tackle-creating and attacking actions, as well as in the top 15% for progressive passes at 90.

When you look at his performances in the Premier League over the last two seasons, you can see how he has adapted to Liverpool’s transition under Sloto, less of a roaming presence and more structured in the Dutch coach’s strategic system.

It is further ahead than before, largely because Ryan Gravenberch has been outstanding in his deep midfield role, instilling control with his elegant and silky technical quality.

Mac Allister continues to power Liverpool’s football, but he does so in a way that works in conjunction with another successful midfielder. It’s the little details like this that set Sloto apart from his managerial peers and that have seen Liverpool soar.

The balance is perfectly intact and FSG cannot allow Real Madrid to upset it. Going back to the first point, the Reds can’t get ahead of themselves; as the key figures keep saying, they need to stay humble and focus on the next game.

But Slot has something special at Liverpool and must be given the tools to create lasting success. Liverpool have the platform from which prosperity can be captured and sustained during this new era, but Mac Allister is the backbone in the middle, enabling so much success for those around him.

Losing Alexander-Arnold or Salah would be a nightmare, but, in Trent’s case, one for which Richard Hughes has had plenty of time to prepare and devise plans should the dire possibility materialize in firm form.

Imagine that such a problem was exacerbated by Mac Allister’s escape. Liverpool would not be able to recover from such a series of setbacks, like dominoes falling one after another, and all the incredible work that has been done since the German left Liverpool in 2024 would be derailed.

Of course, Liverpool’s resilience, their power to recover, has been a thing to behold over the past decade, and even if all these dire odds were to come true in negative form, Anfield would not collapse like some of its neighbors (unnamed).

But Mac Allister’s constant presence in Liverpool’s midfield could be the difference between breaking into the top four and exciting the title chase. As said expert Joe ColeMac Allister is a “superstar” who “can play anywhere” in midfield.

There is a stain in Liverpool, it is stained on the fabric of the Reds’ exciting season. How much effect this will have in the coming months is highly questionable, but another blemish in the form of the potential sale of Mac Allister, which grows in volume like the away section of Anfield when opponents take a shock lead, could be a big problem indeed.

Let’s just hope that as Liverpool routinely claw their way back to victory on the pitch, Hughes and Co can end this worrying boardroom quandary and silence the jubilant Madrid fans smelling victory in this transfer battle.