Liverpool walking into NEW contract crisis after Trent Alexander-Arnold

When it comes to Trent Alexander-Arnold, Liverpool are teetering on the edge.

Current reports suggest that the homegrown talent has expressed a desire to move to Real Madrid in the summer in favour of agreeing a new contract to stay at Liverpool.

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This has since left Liverpool fans with a mixture of emotions, leaving the club with a controversial decision to make as to how the team progresses for the rest of the season.

In addition, the focus will have to shift regarding who replaces the full-back phenomenon. There have been very few transfer links between the club and right-backs so far, and while the club already has an understudy in place in Conor Bradley, his situation is fraught with danger as well.

Bradley's contract problems

At just 21 years old, and having already proven himself as one of the upcoming talents, Bradley could well be Trent's long-term replacement, allowing the club to not need to make a statement signing.

However, the pressure on the young Irishman's shoulders would be massive, and as impressive as he has been in his career so far, his skillset simply doesn't match up with that of Trent's. No defender in world football can do what he can do.

As such, Liverpool's system of play would need to change and Arne Slot would have to think of some inventive ways to mask the England international's absence.

But, even if the club were to successfully move on from Trent with as little fallout as possible, Liverpool would not be out of the woods quite yet.

Bradley's professional contract is high on Richard Hughes' priority list, as he is set to be available as a free agent in 2027, in just two season's time.

If the club is to rely on him as Trent's long-term replacement, then they will need to have a certain number of guarantees in place that Bradley will sign an extension, otherwise, we will be in the same position once again.

And even if it is decided that he is not quite ready in his development to become a regular starter, and the club brings in someone to take over from Trent full-time, then Liverpool will have isolated one of their own, making it harder to keep Bradley at the club because he might not see himself getting the minutes he needs for his career.

Last season, under Jurgen Klopp, he found himself given a regular place in the side as Trent had picked up an injury that left him sidelined for a number of weeks.

During that period in January, he notched one goal and five assists in four games, which subsequently allowed him to start games intermittently between Trent's spells of fitness, delivering a number of impressive performances, leading to some fans allowing themselves to get carried in thinking of a Trent-less future.

Now we find ourselves in the very real possibility that Trent could go, it is very easy to consider the short-term problem to be solved already - giving Bradley a run in the team before making a judgement on what the club does or doesn't need to do.

But in the long term, whichever way the club decides to proceed, they could very easily find themselves in a situation they know only all too well, and ensuring the mistakes of the past aren't replicated will be less than straightforward.

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