Arne Slot has already rubbished claims that Trent Alexander-Arnold has not been committed to Liverpool over recent months. Alexander-Arnold has confirmed that he will leave his boyhood club when his contract expires next month, sparking anger from many Liverpool supporters.
Rumours of a free transfer to Real Madrid have been rumbling on all season and only heightened after Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk put pen to paper on new contracts. Alexander-Arnold came through the Liverpool academy and will depart after securing his second and the club’s 20th league title.
Some fans have questioned his loyalty to the club he supports, because he rejected the offer of a new deal at Anfield in order to move to Madrid. The fact he won’t even earn his side a transfer fee has also not helped his case.
But speaking after Alexander-Arnold returned from injury to score the winner against Leicester on April 20, Slot defended the 26-year-old.
“The headline today should be the goal he scored and not about his contract but it would be ridiculous if someone argues his commitment for this club,” Slot said. “The work rate he puts in. No one can argue his commitment to this club but the headlines should be his great goal and not his contract.
“I don’t think it only meant a lot for him, for everyone who loves Liverpool. A big moment and big players like to have big moments in their career. Virgil had one last week. Players of the quality of Trent, you know these players step up when most needed.”
Alexander-Arnold knew that his announcement would upset fans, but decided to wait until after the title was secured to get his news out there.
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“Obviously there’s been a lot of noise around what the decision was going to be and how that was going to look,” he told the club website. “I know a lot of people will say I should have said sooner, a lot of people will say maybe I waited for the right time.
“But I felt personally the focus should always be on the pitch, should always be about the football. When we were in a title race and trying to push for trophies, it’s about making the right decision for the team and trying not to distract the team and take away from what we’re doing on the pitch.
“For me, it was always to do it after the season was kind of done; not so much the final game but when there was nothing else really to play for. Now that we’ve won the league and we’ve been able to celebrate it and celebrate such an amazing achievement, I felt like now is the right time to get it off my chest and tell the fans the truth, and now is that time.”
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