Liverpool on the brink of '£100m' transfer BLOW

The impact of the expected Trent Alexander-Arnold move to Real Madrid is already being felt.

Fans are hurt that one of their own has decided to abandon them by becoming a Galactico in favour of a Scouse legend. Had he chosen to continue his career on Merseyside, he would've etched himself into Liverpool folklore.

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His reported wage at Los Blancos is in-line with, if not less than, his current Liverpool salary, although he will personally receive a significant sign-on bonus for making the move.

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But what really stings is the lack of a transfer fee for him. Claims are flying around that Trent had made his mind up about Liverpool in the winter of 2023 - before Jurgen Klopp left - leaving us with confusion around why he didn't put in a request to leave last summer.

If he had, the Reds would have some money to fall back on and use when looking at his possible replacements this summer. However, the reality is that Liverpool will earn nothing from this saga - an aspect of this saga that is only just beginning to sink in.

The £100m black hole in Liverpool's finances

His praises have been sung enough, but there is no harm in reminding ourselves how absurd a player Trent was. His passing range was mind-blowing and some of things was capable of were truly extraordinary.

The day that Liverpool would have to begin considering their options at right-back was always going to be a difficult one. I mean, how on earth do you replace him?

Options are being considered, with Jeremie Frimpong appearing as the first candidate to be looked at, but the fact of the matter is that money will need to spent on Trent's position for the first time in almost a decade.

Since Trent was an academy graduate, whatever Liverpool could sell him for was guaranteed to be profit, which would have made a significant difference to the club's finances for a rebuild.

However, now that the right-back is set to leave this season upon the expiration of his contract, the Reds will receive nothing from any deal he might make to move away, and the Liverpool Echo estimate his value to be at £100m.

Of course, the wage bill will see a decrease of an estimated £10m when his name is taken off the books this summer, but the reality is that Liverpool have allowed a lot of money to slip through their hands.

The club allowing Trent's contract get to the point where it entered the last year of the agreed terms without an extension signed is the crucial misjudgement, because any fee would've been better than nothing.

But ever since that point of the saga was reached Liverpool have been on the ropes with no leverage to get themselves out of the hole they had dug for themselves.

Conor Bradley might prove to be the perfect successor for Trent, and a back-up for the Northern Irishman might come from the academy, meaning no financial damage has been done.

Although the far greater likelihood is that Liverpool will have to add another position to their shopping list, that already involved about five players to begin with, so the finances will be even more stretched.

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How Richard Hughes attempts to deal with this, no one knows, but watch this space. It's make or break.

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