Liverpool told it 'may as well' sell Trent Alexander-Arnold as Arne Slot has 'fantastic' replacement

Liverpool should sell Trent Alexander-Arnold in January rather than risk losing him for nothing at the end of the season, according to ex-Reds man Glen Johnson. As of yet, there has been no update on the progress of any negotiations about a new deal.

"They’d have been having talks that we’re not aware of for sure," Johnson told Betfred. "You can’t allow players to get so far into their contract when they’re so valuable.

"It would be a complete head loss to let him go for free. Nobody wants to see him leave, but you may as well cash in because they know something’s going on already. I don’t know if Trent wants to leave or the club is happy for him to leave, but it would be stupid for Liverpool not to cash in if he is going to leave when his contract expires."

My biggest Xabi Alonso worry could come true with new Man City plan Liverpool fans will hate Virgil van Dijk signs, Arsenal and Man City boosts - Dream end to 2024 for Liverpool

Johnson believes that it wouldn't make that much of an impact if Alexander-Arnold departed mid-season and that would be more important than not bringing in any more for him.

"You never want to lose your best players, but I don’t know if it would make much of a difference to Liverpool if he leaves in January or at the end of the season if he was planning to leave the club," he continued. "It would have an impact overall because you never want to see your best players go and you don’t want to let them go easily."

In Conor Bradley, Liverpool another top full-back in the making. And Johnson believes that it wouldn't be a bad idea to promote him if Alexander-Arnold was to move on, even though the Reds would need to sign a replacement too.

"He’s been around for a bit now and he’s got as much game time as he’d have probably wanted up to now," Johnson said. "When he’s played, he’s looked very capable of playing at that level. He needs to do it more regularly and consistently, but from what we’ve seen of him so far, he looks fantastic.

"Top teams need full-backs that can get forward, join in attacks, and even score goals. Top teams need these players because they have the ball 75 per cent of the time, so it’s now equally as important for full-backs to be good on the ball as they are defensively."

Liverpool.com says: Losing Alexander-Arnold for nothing shouldn't be an option for the Reds, but neither should losing him in January. Regardless, Carlo Ancelotti has already said publicly that Real Madrid won't be looking to sign players in the winter window and would be much likelier to wait a few months to avoid paying a transfer fee.