If Real Madrid were paying him £50m as a signing on fee, I’m not sure why people are upset that he might choose to leave for the money…
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Of course there are good reasons why we don’t do clauses or are trying hard to prevent having them in our player’s contracts.
Clauses themselves can also be different, see how Brighton and Bournemouth had clauses that were valid from and to a certain point that allows them to move quickly onto players replacing the likes of Mac Allister and Huijsen.
Being a top club, among the top of the football food chain (in which players can wish to go from one to another, as it’s the case), not having clauses also gives you the possibility to actually negotiate a price, depending on the player.
Not many players left us in recent years in a really bad way, be it footballing wise or financial wise. Not everything is in numbers, because the value of players can drop. Value is also to be found in service and quality on the pitch, years we spent together, especially if it was successful.
As for Trent, I think 2023 might have been a real vital moment, perhaps the last one when a new deal was possibly if we had our things post-Edwards’ departure sorted above Klopp.
He ended that 22/23 season in a brilliant way, him and Jones were in great form. He then went to the US for a special programme, as I think he wanted to squeeze more from his body, because it started to change (obviously gained strength, but perhaps it had a negative effect on his stamina, hence why his game changed from going up and down to more of a playmaking from deep one (and that hybrid role was great at first, but it’s also very demanding).
Losing a player like Trent on a free is certainly a blow, but there is value in the amount of time we were great for each other and had success. Multiple factors led to this outcome. But players leaving on a free isn’t necessarily catastrophic by default. It depends from case to case.
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All if, buts and maybes. What people are going to see is march of last year we opened talks with him, he knew a change was coming with Klopp going, so why not go last summer. Unlikely the club would have stopped or persuaded him due to the new guy coming in as this year was an unknown. We all have our opinions and we are fairly split on them. Why give the new guy a chance only to leave when he was successful, doesn’t happen. He knew then he was going imo.Be open about it last summer and there is no/less problem. For most who have a problem it felt sneaky, orchestrated while pretending it wasn’t.
Literally everything else you’ve said in this quote is dependent on the assumption of the bolded part, which is quite a big assumption. That’s why I, and perhaps others, see it as rather unfair to react so strongly to it, because that’s just an assumption that doesn’t have more of a factual basis than other opinions.
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There is absolutely no way we can tell when is the first moment when Trent thought of the possibility to join Real or another club or was open to it.
My first little feeling was when his last extension was “only” for 4 years. But who knows when indeed, only Trent know that. Possibly his brother(s).
I always look at that aspect of extensions and try to figure out whether players want to leave the doors open, before it’s too late, for a new challenge.
Not do a “Kane” with his stupid 6-year contract extension with no clause in 2018. He got stuck in the mud. Okay, Trent actually won stuff, but point remains.
I said back then that Trent will be 26 and at around the age of 25, he might look at us (being one of the youngest of Klopp’s era) and decide before his peak (which might not turn out to be, at least from a physical point of view, for his position) where he wants to spend that 26-30+ part of career.
You’re assuming the opposite to me, that he didn’t know then he would be going. We’re both only assuming what we think. I think he knew then, you think he didn’t. Most thinking of a change of scenery work towards that, which is what I believe he did. I don’t judge him negatively for that but I judge him for what I believe he knew what he was going to do, but wasn’t open about it, even when it was obvious.
BTW, I have been drinking, but i blame Zorans/Nikolas people for this although I am fully aware of what I am doing🙂
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Oh shit, Žuja!
Where are you?
Korcula, nice cheap beer. I’ve also been sampling mareska room(rum)?
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1892 on the can, too!
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Great place Korcula, also early enough before the tourist season starts. Maraska? Try everything you can, especially if you bump into some locals.
Enjoy! 
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Mareska rum, supposed to be local to this part of Croatia, but I’m a bit skeptical 
Oh I see, Moreska is a traditional dance from Korcula. Maybe that’s the link, how their rum is called. I’m not a rum guy.
Doesn’t matter, very nice, loving the Croatians i have met. Why would I think they wouldn’t be anything but lovely.
Bit tipsy now. That’s me for tonight.
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I was in The Kop when Trent Alexander-Arnold was booed and what I saw can not happen again
Story by Ryan Paton
Arsenal was a game I’d been waiting for my whole life. Getting to watch the Reds in a packed out Anfield when they were officially the champions of England is what I’d dreamed about in all my years as a Liverpool FC season ticket holder.
The only time I got to experience Liverpool in the flesh as confirmed champions before was when I was lucky enough to land a ticket in the ballot for the match against West Brom in the 20/21 season. However, entering the ground wearing a mask before singing “bring on the champions” in a half empty Kop, complying with social distancing regulations, was hardly how I had envisioned celebrating a league win.
Sunday was much more like it’s supposed to be as Anfield was a sea of red and everyone was in a party mood, ready to bask in the glory of number 20, as the team played against their closest competitors.
The first 45 minutes was up there with the best I’d experienced in L4 as the champions put Arsenal to the sword in thrilling fashion and showed exactly why there wasn’t much of a title race this season.
The atmosphere was everything a game celebrating number 20 should have been, with an emotional You’ll Never Walk Alone, followed by red balloons flying around the Kop and people bouncing to Arne Slot’s new song.
Even though the intensity on the pitch dropped in the second half and Arsenal pulled one back, The Kop remained in full voice, with a 5 minute plus rendition of Federico Chiesa’s catchy chant making it feel like nothing could sour the occasion.
However, we all know what happened in the 67th minute when a triple substitution that now seems incredibly misguided changed the mood entirely. Liverpool fans will never react well to a player choosing to leave the club, particularly someone who has grown up in the city and was branded “the Scouser in our team”.
While the pressure on a local player to stay at the same team can be seen as unfairly high, it is also true that Trent Alexander-Arnold has handled his looming exit particularly badly. Timing is one issue, with fans unsurprisingly confused at why he would choose to leave when the team is arguably the best in Europe.
And while the number 66 has repeatedly shared his desire to keep contract negotiations behind closed doors, the less he has spoken about his future has actually invited more suspicion from fans, with many taking to social media to share theories on whether his departure on a free has been more calculated than it seems.
The announcement confirming his exit last week with three games still remaining was again poorly timed, but it didn’t come as a massive shock to me. The move has felt on the cards for the majority of the season and I have had many months to come to terms with the fact Liverpool’s future will be without the academy graduate.
Simply put, Alexander-Arnold is a special talent, but Liverpool’s continued success is not founded upon whether he remains at the club in the same way it was with someone like Steven Gerrard. The club is in a healthy position and will be fine after his exit, as where he fits in the side with his unique skillset has become increasingly difficult to define since conversations gained pace on whether he is actually more suited to a central midfield role.
This is why I have largely felt apathy to his impending departure, especially given the context of it being during a Premier League title win that was beyond my wildest imaginations. What’s added to the feeling of just not being that bothered by it is the Premier League win has not hinged on Alexander-Arnold’s contributions in the same way he has previously been more pivotal to the team’s success.
Rumours surrounding interest in Jeremie Frimpong today represent an exciting look into the future of how the side might evolve for a post Alexander-Arnold Liverpool.
While these are the reasons I haven’t felt any overwhelming anger over the last few weeks and it has barely occupied my thoughts, I agree that every fan is entitled to their own opinion. While booing is not and never will be for me, I understand those stung by his departure wanted to send a message, in the only place they could, on how they believe the manner of his expected move to a European rival has been unacceptable.
But the way this continued after his introduction with every time he touched the ball when the Reds were trying to win the game is something that has never happened inside Anfield before. Whether Alexander-Arnold deserved the boos is not really the point, as the saddest thing about it all was how it divided The Kop in a way I’ve never seen.
Many fans shared my opinion and refused to boo, but this split led to an ugly atmosphere in the ground. Fans trying to put an end to the jeers ended up in spiky confrontations, and I saw an incident when supporters stepped in to quickly ease the tension from an escalating argument between two people in the crowd.
The first 45 minutes in the ground was everything I could have wanted, but the final 30 is up there with the worst I’ve ever felt inside Anfield, which is staggering given what the occasion should have been. There have obviously been bad games and low moments from my times attending the match at Anfield, but the crowd has always felt united behind the same cause.
Sunday was like living inside a nightmare Twitter argument that had manifested into reality, when two sides, vociferously backing their point, would never come to an agreement.
Seeing the fanbase split and arguing with each other in the stands like this left me overwhelmed with unease and it was hard to comprehend how such a positive atmosphere had managed to be taken over by negativity.
Liverpool had two opportunities at Anfield to soak in the joy of a 20th league title win. The first has sadly been overshadowed by a sideshow, involving a player who will not be a part of Liverpool’s future and doesn’t deserve to dominate the headlines at such a momentous time in the club’s history.
It’s vital a line is drawn under it after this weekend and, as fans, we can tailor our focus to what’s really important: Being united in joy to witness something a generation of people never have before when the Reds lift the league title on May 25.
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TLDR skipped to this bit
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Time to get over it. He was booed. Boo-hoo. Leaves a bad epitaph for TAA. Best forget about it now.
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I think you’re making the mistake in thinking that the only opposite to your way of thinking is assuming that he didn’t know then that he would be going. While I do lean towards that thought, I’m more agnostic than that.
I think we simply don’t have any way of knowing what he was thinking or not. It’s a very all-or-nothing thinking that you have, assuming his mind was made up then. It could very well have been that he was committed to the club, but then was persuaded by the approaches, or he could already have been open to the idea but still wanting to keep his options open all the way until the end.
All that we know is that if you believe the “journalists” then the club most certainly believed that he didn’t make his decision until March.
I actually wondered whether Trent had considered leaving last summer. The way he was very emotional and teared up when Klopp left made me wonder if he was considering his own future then. During this season, there were a few occasions that I felt he lacked “spark”. Maybe he decided to give it a year and see how he felt?
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I was there a decade ago or so, with my family. It was during the summer, and it was incredibly hot at the time, but the place is great. Enjoy! 
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