Trent Alexander-Arnold's future at Liverpool is up in the air with the England man out of contract at the end of the season, and Graeme Souness believes he's already told the club he'll leave next summer.
Alexander-Arnold is one of a number of high-profile players who are in their final deal at Anfield, and Souness told William Hill’s new podcast, Three Up Front, that he expects the 25-year-old to be a Real Madrid player next year.
He said: “Trent Alexander-Arnold is tailor-made for Real Madrid in terms of the way he plays, and he’s got an unbelievable delivery – not to mention he’s good friends with Jude Bellingham. He could end up at Madrid and that message may already have been relayed to Liverpool.
“I don’t see any obvious reason to take Trent off against Manchester United, other than if they know he’s leaving.
"They’d still want to keep him on side for the rest of the season and he’ll go for free at the end of it. The message that he’s made up his mind may already have been relayed to the higher-ups at the club.
"He’s running his contract down. If you’re going to leave Liverpool, where else other than Real Madrid can you really go to better yourself?”
Along with Alexander-Arnold, Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk could also be free agents next summer, and the former Liverpool midfielder could see the Dutch defender also making a move to the Bernabeu.
"I could see Van Dijk there as well," Souness added.
"The point being that if you’re leaving Liverpool then the only place you’d really want to go is Madrid. Van Dijk might be getting older but he’s an athlete. You can still get a couple more good years out of him.
“He’s a better player than what Real already have in the likes of Antonio Rüdiger. He’s more of a footballer, he’s a better athlete, better in the air and better on the ball. I wouldn’t even compare the two.”
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