Fabrizio Romano drops detailed afternoon Alexander-Arnold update after Madrid approach rebuffed | OneFootball

Real Madrid are ‘pushing’ hard in their bid to bring Trent Alexander-Arnold to the Spanish capital by the summer transfer window, if not in the immediate winter window.

The Merseysiders rebuffed the Spanish champions’ opening approach for their star right-back whose current terms are set to expire in the summer of 2025.

The Englishman has yet to commit to a future outside of Anfield, despite Spanish reports to the contrary.

To that end, Fabrizio Romano reports that ‘there is no concrete negotiation for January’, with the Reds holding firm on keeping their vice skipper for the foreseeable future.

“Trent Alexander-Arnold, for sure, is one of the big topics of this end of 2024, beginning of 2025, because in the recent days Real Madrid approached Liverpool for Trent Alexander-Arnold,” the CaughtOffside columnist informed The Daily Briefing.

“It’s the first contact between the parties to understand the situation, because Real Madrid wanted to show to Liverpool that they’re prepared to pay money in January to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold.

“However, Liverpool’s reaction was very clear – the player is not for sale in January. Liverpool want to continue with Trent, they want to win as many titles as possible this season. They are doing great, so there is no concrete negotiation for January.

“But, Real Madrid’s message is very clear – they are going very strong for Trent, even if it’s not going to be in January, it will be in the summer because Liverpool know that Real Madrid are pushing a lot to sign the England international.”

Real Madrid confident of signing Trent Alexander-Arnold

(Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Having invested serious time and effort into this potential deal, it’s clear that the La Liga giants will be far from keen to bow out of the race for Alexander-Arnold’s signature.

“Real Madrid have been working on this deal since March, and now that it’s January they can talk directly to Trent and his agents to discuss a deal,” Romano went on to add.

“So, Real Madrid are working on signing Trent, but Liverpool don’t want to negotiate in January because they still want to try to extend his contract.

“Still, it’s not going to be easy – Real Madrid are pushing, Real Madrid are confident, but Liverpool will try until the end.”

Interest from Madrid is far from surprising – particularly in light of Los Blancos’ clear deficiency in the right-back position.

With Dani Carvajal (32) out of action until the summer and Lucas Vasquez (33) in his 30s, Carlo Ancelotti’s men would be well-advised to look to the future at the earliest available opportunity.

Signing the globe’s leading right-back, then, would more than solve a growing concern for the Real Madrid hierarchy.

They’ll have to at least wait until the summer window for Trent’s services, however, and that’s working on an assumption the 26-year-old won’t commit to a new long-term contract at Anfield.

Nonetheless, it’s at least a little concerning that our European rivals felt confident enough to test the waters in January.