Reports coming out of Liverpool Football Club suggest the club's owners may consider bids for Trent Alexander-Arnold rather than risk losing him for free at the end of the season.
The homegrown Reds star is out of contract at the end of the current season and will be eligible to negotiate terms with an overseas side of his choosing from January 1. As the clock ticks down on that deadline, which is now just 53 days away, there is a growing feeling that Liverpool will reluctantly see their vice-captain depart.
Indeed, Real Madrid have made no secret of their wishes to prise the 26-year-old away from Anfield as a free agent, a possibility that already gathered pace on Saturday morning amid startling new claims that suggested talks over an extension on Merseyside had now 'hit a major obstacle'.
To that end, the report claims the Reds have are now reluctant to offer the 83-goal assist machine a package worth in excess of that currently earned by either Virgil van Dijk or Mo Salah for fear of creating 'disharmony in the ranks' if they greenlit such a salary.
As a result, it's now claimed their chances of keeping the player at Anfield are 'reducing with every passing day'.
To make matters worse, former Man Utd chief scout, Mick Brown, has suggested the prospects of Alexander-Arnold leaving in the January window are starting to gain momentum.
"Liverpool will know whether or not he's going," he told Football Insider.
"And if he's definitely going, they [FSG] might feel they can bring in a bit of money for him in January and bite the bullet rather than letting him go for free.
"They don't want to lose him because he's an important player and he's a local boy and everything.
"But they have to be realistic, and if they're going to lose him anyway, why not make some money? I wouldn't be surprised at all to see them cut their losses and take what they can."
Brown insisted FSG's financial situation could force them to cash in, concluding: "That money can then be reinvested elsewhere if they want to strengthen the squad.
"Liverpool aren't flushed with money like a Chelsea for example, so if they can make some good money from his sale it will be an interesting decision."
