Dominik Szoboszlai drafted himself as the peacemaker. The Hungary captain was walking next to Trent Alexander-Arnold on Sunday as the soon-to-be Galactico faced up to the Kop and was met with a less than pleasant reaction.
You did not need to be a body language expert to work out what was going through Alexander-Arnold’s head. His mind was racing, probably wanting the Anfield pitch – the turf he grew up with a dream of walking on – to swallow him up.
Szoboszlai put a hand up to the fans behind the goal and gestured for them to lay off and instead cheer for him. His plea fell on deaf ears and the jeers continued. Not as loud as they were when Alexander-Arnold touched the ball, but still audible enough to send a message.
Liverpool’s vice-captain, who joined the club when he was still knee high, now knows exactly what the fans think of him. He has been getting pelters online all season for his contract saga but many thought the negativity was restricted to social media. No, this was the real world.
We are now in the messy stage of the break-up and Alexander-Arnold’s exit is certainly not amicable with the fanbase. It all feels a bit like when a couple separates but continues to live together until one party can find a new home.
About 20 minutes after the game, the ground now empty, Alexander-Arnold re-emerged on to the pitch for a post-match warm-down. Some of the fellow substitutes doing the same, like Diogo Jota, put an arm round him, as did coaches John Heitinga and Aaron Briggs.
You did not need to be a body language expert to work out what was going through Trent Alexander-Arnold’s head on Sunday
A large section of Anfield booed Alexander-Arnold onto the pitch against Arsenal
We are now in the messy stage of the break-up and Alexander-Arnold’s exit is certainly not amicable with the fanbase
He was clearly hurting and it was awkward to watch. The word is that he was expecting a negative reaction but perhaps not quite to this level. He wanted to get it over and done with and now that is done.
In the dressing room, more players asked if he was OK.
The timing of his exit announcement, 10am on Bank Holiday Monday last week, was for two reasons: he wanted to face up to the fans and confirm his future before the end of the season, while allowing enough time for the dust to settle before the end of May.
That weekend, of course, is when Liverpool will lift the Premier League trophy in front of fans for the first time since 1990 (eight years before Alexander-Arnold was born) and then parade it around the city on an open-top bus the day after.
Sunday felt like a mass event of Liverpool fans getting something off their chest. They pay their money – thousands a season – and have every right to boo a player if they see fit, just as they have a right to clap him if that is how they feel.
He is the Scouse heartbeat of the team living out the fans’ dreams every time he pulls on the shirt, be it one time or 353 in his case – so the feeling is one of betrayal and disgust at how this saga was played out.
As for Alexander-Arnold, manager Arne Slot and the rest of the staff have not changed in their approach to him. While he is a Liverpool player, they will treat him fairly and just like any other member of the squad.
Sporting director Richard Hughes, who led the talks with Alexander-Arnold’s brother and agent Tyler over a potential new deal, has also taken it upon himself in recent weeks to check up on the right back and ensure his wellbeing is all good.
It comes just two weeks on from Alexander-Arnold partying in front of the Kop as Liverpool sealed a 20th English top-flight crown
Real Madrid are pushing to sign Alexander-Arnold before the Club World Cup in June
Will it impact their decision over whether to let him leave early for the Club World Cup? Again, nothing changes for Liverpool – if Real Madrid pay the money, which they have not yet, they will consider it.
Letting Alexander-Arnold depart early will benefit Liverpool: they receive money, they get him off the wage bill and thus can spend those finances elsewhere, plus they hamper direct rivals Manchester City or Chelsea’s chances of winning the tournament and taking home up to £97million in prize money.
One of the main reasons for fans’ ire is that they accuse the whole saga of being calculated from the minute Alexander-Arnold signed a four-year deal. They think he was obviously running down his contract so he could leave on a free.
It is interesting to note Real Madrid’s strategy in this regard with Kylian Mbappe, David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger all signing for nothing having run their contracts down at their respective former clubs.
Liverpool defender Ibrahima Konate is next in Madrid’s sights and his deal expires at the end of next season.
Talks have stalled in recent months over a new contract for the Frenchman but he has given no indication at this stage that he would want to leave. In fact, he sat in the Main Stand alone last week to get the fan experience, perhaps showing how he loves life playing for Liverpool.
But regardless of Konate’s future or Alexander-Arnold’s exit, many in the dressing room believe that Anfield still remains the place to be.
‘For me there is no other place to be at this point,’ said Virgil van Dijk.
Ibrahima Konate is next on Real Madrid’s target list as they pursue a policy of getting big-name targets to run down their contracts
For title-winning captain Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool is the only place to be right now
‘When the final whistle is there we will miss him after that but we still have two more games, the trophy lift and a parade so there are plenty of moments we can share together and then we will see what happens.
‘It has to be a big summer and I trust the club and the people who make the decisions to do the right thing.
‘As champions it is a very difficult task to remain champions but I feel with additions we can make that step up.
‘We can have a proper pre-season, we can work on the things the manager wants us to do in ball possession and without ball possession, a lot of hard work will be done. It’s something to look forward to, it’s an exciting time to be associated with Liverpool.’
