Real Madrid to ‘intensify’ contract talks with Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold | OneFootball

Real Madrid were in England this week as they visited Manchester for their Champions League play-off clash with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. Coincidence or not, less than 24 hours after their departure for the Spanish capital, fresh news has come out regarding Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The England right-back is out of contract in the summer, and is widely expected to end up signing a deal on a free with Real Madrid. It is believed that Liverpool will continue their efforts to try and tie down their academy product, but Los Blancos certainly appear to be in pole position for his signature.

Image via Carl Recine/Getty Images

According to The Telegraph (via Diario AS), Real Madrid are set to ‘intensify’ contract talks with Alexander-Arnold in the coming weeks, and are keen to wrap up the deal as quickly as possible. They also suggest that his salary will be somewhere between €9.5m and €12m per annum in Madrid.

This tallies with reports in Spain, although it has been reported that the deal is much further on than that. The most recent reports claim that Los Blancos believe the deal for Alexander-Arnold to be ‘95% done’, with contracts for the deal already drawn up. Real Madrid tried to sign Alexander-Arnold in January, offering between €15m and €25m to speed up his arrival in their eyes, in light of Dani Carvajal’s season-ending cruciate ligament injury. However Liverpool were adamant that the 26-year-old would not be going anywhere.

Alexander-Arnold is set to be the long-term option for Real Madrid at right-back succeeding Carvajal, who has been a key player but is now 33 and coming off a serious knee injury. It is not yet clear whether veteran Lucas Vazquez will be retained next season, with his deal up in the summer. In previous years, talks have taken place closer to the end of the season.