Barcelona have ‘plan’ to beat Real Madrid to Alexander-Arnold with Reds eyeing £42m France star as successor

Liverpool face a big new threat towards keeping Trent Alexander-Arnold with Barcelona putting together a plan to beat Real Madrid to his signing and with Arne Slot targeting a France star as his replacement, per bold new reports in the Spanish media.

The 26-year-old Reds vice-captain falls out of contract at Anfield at the end of the season and will be eligible to sign a pre-contract agreement with an overseas club of his choosing from January 1 – just 72 days from now. As a result, Liverpool fans are fearful of losing their assist king on a free transfer as time ticks down on his existing arrangement.

With an incredible 102 goal involvements (19 goals, 83 assists) from 320 appearances for the Reds since debuting in the 2016/17 season, Alexander-Arnold‘s importance to the Liverpool cause cannot be underestimated; the player is rightly considered one of, if not the greatest right-backs in the modern game.

As a result, the 33-times capped England star has been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid, with the Spanish giants having made the player a very firm target for summer 2025 and with sources revealing to TEAMtalk that representatives from Los Blancos have been in ‘constant contact’ with the player’s entourage.

However, new reports from El Nacional claim Barcelona are preparing a bid of their own to beat their Spanish rivals to Alexander-Arnold’s signature with sporting director Deco having ‘a plan to snatch the Englishman from Real Madrid and make a statement’.

The Barcelona sporting director is ‘determined to offer Alexander-Arnold a sporting project where he will be undisputed’ as at Real Madrid the 26-year-old ‘would have to compete with Dani Carvajal for a place in the starting XI’.

And while Real Madrid represent the more attractive option owing to their ‘history and titles’, it’s claimed the offer of a guaranteed place could ‘tip the balance’ in favour of Barcelona.

At the same time, the report claims Liverpool have also expressed an interest in signing Barcelona’s current right-back Jules Kounde as Alexander-Arnold’s replacement – with the Reds said to have made an ‘offer’ of €50m (£41.6m, $54.2m) for the France international.

READ MORE: Ancelotti drops Real Madrid truth bomb on Alexander-Arnold links with two solutions favoured over Liverpool raid

Alexander-Arnold’s past Barcelona comments offer hint – but focus is Liverpool

While Real Madrid have always been seen as the main danger to Liverpool over keeping Alexander-Arnold, perhaps Barcelona should not be ruled completely out of the equation.

Hansi Flick’s side are top of LaLiga this season with nine wins from 10 games and seemingly on a mission to wrestle the title crown back off their great rivals’ hands.

Furthermore, historical comments made by the Reds’ vice-captain would suggest he has more of an affinity to Barcelona than he does Real Madrid.

“I’d say my favourite other team would be Barca,” he told GQ in 2020.

“I feel as though they’ve got kind of the same values and beliefs as Liverpool, they like to bring players through the academy. I grew up watching Messi and that special Barcelona team, with Iniesta, Xavi, Henry, Eto’o.”

However, despite that, sources have informed us that Alexander-Arnold’s focus remains very much on signing an extension at Anfield and with officials at Liverpool ‘calm and confident’ that the player – as well as teammate Virgil van Dijk – will both sign new deals.

The player has also indicated in public his willingness to stay, stating: “I have always said I want to captain the club. That is a goal of mine, whether that happens is out of my hands.

“I want to be a Liverpool player this season (as a minimum) is what I will say.”

Asked what could influence that decision, he added: “The most important thing is always trophies. I want to win trophies.

“We were close to the title last season and we got a cup. The (quadruple) was on for a while I suppose.

“This season we are looking really good, it is still early days, but we need a lot of consistency. It will be difficult but we are looking to win as many trophies as we can.”

Latest Liverpool transfer news: Salah demands emerge / Carragher wants Zubimendi chase abandoned

Meanwhile, there has been a new development in Liverpool’s quest to keep Mo Salah at Anfield, with the Egyptian’s deal also expiring at the end of the current campaign.

The 32-year-old has been in exceptional form this season, scoring seven times in 11 appearances and also adding six assists to his name. Strongly linked with moves to Saudi Arabia and PSG, a new report has now revealed exactly what it would take to tie the Egyptian down to a new deal at Anfield, with his demands finally coming to light.

Salah’s goal from the penalty spot in Sunday’s win over Chelsea means Salah now moved joint ninth on the all-time top Premier League goalscorers list – and Jamie Carragher believes with a number of records in his sights, he has made clear why he is adamant the Egyptian will stay.

Elsewhere, Carragher also believes the incredible performance of Curtis Jones on Sunday against the Blues can finally shut down talk that Liverpool could go back in for Martin Zubimendi in January, with the pundit going as far to suggest that Arne Slot and Co should abandon their chase for the Spaniard.

How does Kounde compare to Alexander-Arnold this season?