Man Utd, Newcastle ‘offer’ £35m for Alexander-Arnold as Real Madrid ‘consider sale’ of ex-Liverpool star | OneFootball

Man Utd and Newcastle have made offers to sign former Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold from Real Madrid, according to reports.

The England international allowed his contract at Anfield to tick down to expiry last summer as Alexander-Arnold made himself unpopular with Liverpool supporters.

Alexander-Arnold was booed on his return to Anfield this season with Real Madrid, who paid a fee to get him out of Liverpool early to play in the Club World Cup, as the Reds got the better of the La Liga side in a 1-0 win in the Champions League.

The former Liverpool star has so far failed to impress in Spain with Alexander-Arnold making just 11 appearances this term, just seven of those coming in the starting XI.

After a slow start to life at the Bernabeu, Alexander-Arnold picked up a quadriceps injury in early December, which is likely to keep him out for a couple of months.

A Real Madrid statement read on December 4: ‘Following tests carried out today on our player Trent Alexander-Arnold by the Real Madrid Medical Services, he has been diagnosed with a muscle injury in the rectus femoris of his left quadriceps. His recovery will be monitored.’

The report adds: ‘Among the clubs most closely monitoring his situation are Manchester United and Newcastle United, two ambitious projects looking to bolster their defenses with a proven player. In both cases, offers are reported to be around €40 million. Significant sums, but insufficient to convince Real Madrid, who have no intention of letting him go.’

Fichajes continues: ‘Both Manchester United and Newcastle United know the operation won’t be easy. Both clubs would be willing to submit formal offers if they perceive a change of heart from Real Madrid.

‘However, sources close to the player insist that Trent Alexander-Arnold doesn’t want to return to England just yet. His priority is to succeed at the Santiago Bernabeu and establish himself as part of a winning project.’

Gary Lineker remarked earlier this season that Liverpool are “really missing” Alexander-Arnold’s creativity with Mohamed Salah worse off without the England right-back.

Lineker said in October: “In terms of creativity, as much as anything else, I think they’re really missing Trent [Alexander-Arnold].

“Before that, sometimes Trent would go forward and they would, perhaps, get exposed defensively. But what he gives you going the other way, it’s impossible to replace.

“There is not another player I can think of in world football who plays that position [right-back] in the way that he plays it offensively.

“I also think that Mo [Salah] is missing him, that connection that they had. Yes, sometimes they would get exposed in behind, but they would have someone try and cover that position – last season it was mostly [Dominik] Szoboszlai, previous to that would be Jordan Henderson.

“You’ve got to say it was worth his weight in gold going forward, and I always used to say, ‘Stop worrying about him [Alexander-Arnold] making the odd tiny mistake defensively, because what he gives you the other way is incredible.”