Transfer insider reveals major step Liverpool were prepared to take to try and keep Trent | OneFootball

Trent Alexander-Arnold is seemingly on his way to Real Madrid, leaving Liverpool fans to try and process the impending departure of their vice-captain on a free transfer in his footballing prime at 26.

With Fabrizio Romano reporting this morning that a move to the Bernabeu is very much ‘on’, and talkSPORT‘s Alex Crook claiming that personal terms have been agreed with the Champions League holders, it now seems only a matter of time before the England international bids farewell to Merseyside.

To make matters worse, Los Blancos could yet try to convince the player to cut short his contract with LFC so that he’d be available for the Club World Cup in June.

Liverpool reportedly made unprecedented offer to Trent

Reporting for TBR Football, Graeme Bailey has shared details of the Anfield hierarchy’s purported efforts to try and convince the right-back to remain at his boyhood club.

According to the transfer insider, Liverpool had been prepared to make Trent the highest-paid English player in the Premier League and had left that offer ‘on the table’ for the 26-year-old to accept.

The LFC powerbrokers felt compelled to act after discovering that the player had been in ‘advanced talks’ with Real Madrid, who it’s understood hadn’t gone behind the Reds’ back at any point and kept them informed throughout the process.

(Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Even that seemingly wasn’t enough to sway Trent

In light of this morning news, it seems that Liverpool’s eye-watering offer to their vice-captain will be in vain, and it leaves supporters at a loss to try and comprehend why such a crucial player is now set to depart without a transfer fee being recouped.

According to Capology, Jack Grealish is the Premier League’s best-paid English footballer on £300,000 per week, an increase of almost 70% on what Trent has been earning at Anfield.

If a contract in excess of what the Manchester City forward is pocketing had been put in front of the Reds’ vice-captain but that still wasn’t enough to convince him to stay, then it seems that nothing would’ve deterred him from joining Real Madrid.

To make it all the more galling for Liverpool fans, the 26-year-old is set to earn a comparatively modest £200,000 per week (The Independent), which further underlines the theory that his heart has been set on the Bernabeu for some time.

Nonetheless, one might also wonder why LFC seemingly left it until after negotiations with Los Blancos had begun to make Trent an offer that they mistakenly thought he couldn’t refuse. Should they have shown more urgency and proactivity in trying to retain their vice-captain?

Alas, it now looks as though the Merseyside club must start properly planning for life after the England international.