Trent Alexander-Arnold sent a message as he celebrated his goal in Liverpool’s 5-0 thrashing of West Ham, but it only gave a glimpse into a situation fans have been kept out of.
When the right-back’s effort deflected off Max Kilman beyond the helpless Alphonse Areola to put the Reds 4-0 up in east London, it marked a first in over eight months for the club.
His 20th goal for Liverpool overall, it capped a year that saw Alexander-Arnold enhance his reputation for club and country, but also court more speculation than ever before.
And as he wheeled off in celebration, Liverpool’s No. 66 opted for a gesture that would only fuel the fire further.
‘All talk’, ‘keep talking’, ‘let them talk’…however you interpreted the yapping hand to his right ear, it was clearly designed as a response.
That it came on a weekend of multiple reports from Spain, including leading sports newspapers Marca and AS, claiming he had agreed to join Real Madrid was all the more significant.
The obvious assumption was that Alexander-Arnold was denying those rumours, which Arne Slot appeared to reinforce when he told Sky Sports after the game: “The way he celebrated his goal probably tells you enough.”
“No, I don’t think it’s negative at all,” he said when asked if the ‘mood music’ around his vice-captain’s dwindling contract was less optimistic than that of Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.
“He’s playing really well, scored a great goal and the way he celebrated his goal probably tells you enough, so I don’t think I have to say much more about it.
“I’m really happy with Trent, just as happy as I am with Mo and With Virgil, so for me there’s no difference.
“For the outside world, maybe there’s a bit more things happening around Trent in the media than with the other two, but yeah, I’m happy with all three of them at the moment.”
However, there is also a sense from the 26-year-old that he is eager to detach himself from the furore entirely – which includes a growing unease among supporters of his current club.
Unlike Van Dijk and Salah, who have obliged and even sought out post-match media requests knowing they would be asked about their ongoing talks with Liverpool and made it clear they want to stay, Alexander-Arnold has rarely spoken about his future.
“Look, I’ve been at the club 20 years now,” he said in September, in the only major address from the player himself.
“I’ve signed four or five contract extensions and none of those have been played out in public, and this one won’t be either.”
That in itself is an admirable stance. So much of modern football is focused around signings, sales and contracts and the growing influence of agents has given them more power over clubs when using the media.
Alexander-Arnold – who is represented by his brother, Tyler, director of the PLG agency which also counts Andy Robertson, Jarrod Bowen, Jordan Henderson and Nat Phillips among its many clients – is outwardly defying that.
But the landscape changes when one of Liverpool’s most decorated academy graduates and a lifelong supporter heads towards the final six months of his deal with no sign of a resolution and a Spanish giant looming over him.
Alexander-Arnold was only months old when Steve McManaman was announced to have reached a pre-contract agreement with Real Madrid in 1999, just five when Michael Owen left for Real himself for below value and a year older during Steven Gerrard‘s Chelsea saga.
While he will have little memory of the mood around those situations, his family ties and a 20-year connection with the club – which began, incidentally, around the time of Owen’s departure – mean he will be well aware of how it affected the stocks of those players at Anfield.
From a sporting perspective, McManaman and Owen could be forgiven for trading Liverpool for Real when they did, particularly the former who was able to slot in comfortably into the best team in the world.
But doing so was still jarring for those left behind.
There is a reason why McManaman is not as revered on Merseyside as a player of his calibre should deserve, just as there is a reason Owen is still met with disdain by some sections of the Anfield support on his infrequent visits.
“I don’t feel as though I’m welcomed or loved and it bloody hurts, so I prefer to avoid it,” the striker, who also went on to play for Man United, inferring he had little choice but to do so, recently told The Athletic.
Whether Alexander-Arnold truly would experience a similar reaction if he joined Real on a free transfer at the end of the season remains to be seen, but there is certainly a difference now in that he would be leaving the current best side in Europe.
Slot’s side sit clear at the top of the Premier League and the Champions League heading into 2025 with only one defeat in 27 games under Jurgen Klopp‘s successor – one of their 23 victories being over Real Madrid at Anfield.
Given Liverpool appear on course to at least lift the league title by the season’s end, it would certainly match the ambitions of their right-back, who has admitted: “The most important thing is always trophies. I want to win trophies.”
His ultimate goal from that perspective though is the Ballon d’Or, which history shows is biased towards those plying their trade in Spain and in particular at the Bernabeu – though Owen himself could attest that it is possible while still a Liverpool player.
Interestingly, Owen offered perhaps the most sage advice on Alexander-Arnold’s situation possible later in his interview with The Athletic:
“Once you move, you lose that absolute attachment to your club and you become a trading proposition.
“You lose the glue you once had, going from contract to contract, because you aren’t playing for the team you support.
“You’re just a player trying to do well for a specific club. It means more than that when you’ve come through the ranks.”
There Owen, as a 45-year-old who retired over a decade ago, was speaking more of legacy than anything, which is something Alexander-Arnold would be minded to consider as the Spanish press keep talking.
Players have a right to privacy, certainly in negotiations over their own futures, but there remains a duty to those in the stands which should resonate more with a player who once watched the likes of Gerrard training through the fences at Melwood.
By distancing himself from speculation, meaning even a celebration is pounced on as a major update, Alexander-Arnold has only left the matter open to interpretation.
And, as recent weeks and months have showed, that has risked souring the mood among supporters.
It may be ‘all talk’ when it comes to the pages of Marca, AS and their counterparts in England, but there is only one person who can end it and that is Trent Alexander-Arnold himself.
