Gary Neville has told Real Madrid-bound Trent Alexander-Arnold when he needs to make an announcement regarding his future at Liverpool.
Alexander-Arnold has been heavily linked with a potential exit from Liverpool over the past year as his current contract is due to expire at the end of this season.
Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk were in the same position, but the key duo have decided to commit their futures to Liverpool beyond the summer.
26-year-old Alexander-Arnold has always been the most likely of the three players to leave amid interest from Real Madrid and it’s been reported that he has an agreement with the Spanish giants.
Alexander-Arnold made his return from injury against Leicester City on Sunday and scored the winning goal in Liverpool’s 1-0 victory.
This result leaves Liverpool on the brink of winning the Premier League title. They will get over the line if they beat Spurs next Sunday, but the job will also be done if Arsenal don’t defeat Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
Neville thinks Alexander-Arnold may not have anywhere “else to go” by the end of next week.
“There’s going to come a point, around this time next Sunday, whereby he’s going to have nowhere else to go,” Neville told Sky Sports.
READ: Real Madrid ‘need Trent way more than he needs them’ as Liverpool thrive
“Because the season’s over for Liverpool, in essence. They’ll have won the league. There is nothing else to talk about other than: ‘Are you staying at the club or not?’ And he’ll have to just say yes or no.
“He’ll have to get himself sorted this week, I would imagine. Because once you start leaving it beyond next weekend, when you’ve won the league, it becomes a little bit distasteful.
“You’re better off just declaring your hand, I think, at that point and just say: ‘Yes, I’m staying’ or ‘no, I’m not’.”
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Reds boss Arne Slot has hit out at “ridiculous” claims regarding Alexander-Arnold’s commitment to Liverpool after his goal against Leicester City.
“It is a big moment and big players like to have big moments in their career,” Slot said.
“Virgil had one last week [scoring the winning goal against West Ham], a special moment, Mo [Salah] has had them many times this season and players like Trent, they step up when needed.
“He did that against Newcastle and in his second-half performance against Paris Saint‑Germain when I was just waiting for him to score a goal and then he had to go off with an injury.”
When asked whether Liverpool have given up hope of keeping Alexander-Arnold beyond this season, Slot added: “The headline should be today the goal he scored and not about his contract but what I can say is it would be ridiculous if someone argues his commitment for this club because the work rate he has put in today to be back and score such an important goal, and all the work he has done for this club in all the years he is here, no one should, in my opinion, argue with his commitment for this club.
“Let the headlines be his great goal and not his contract situation.”
