Despite only appearing in five out of Liverpool's seven Premier League games so far this season, Trent Alexander-Arnold has still managed to earn himself an overall season rating of 7.81/10, making him their second-highest rated player in terms of performances in the Premier League according to WhoScored.

Taking this into account, it's easy to see why the defender has now been linked with a move away from the club.

What's the news?

It has recently been reported by Spanish media outlet Fichajes that La Liga giants Real Madrid are interested in signing Alexander-Arnold and taking him away from the Merseyside club.

As a product of Liverpool's youth academy, Alexander-Arnold made his senior debut for the club back in October 2016 during a Carabao Cup win over fellow Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.

Since then, the 23-year-old, who is currently valued at £67.5m according to Transfermarkt, has gone on to make a total of 185 appearances for Jurgen Klopp's team across all competitions.

During that time, he's managed to score 10 goals and provide 47 assists in the process, which is very impressive for a full-back and suggests why Carlo Ancelotti's side reportedly have their eyes on him.

Fans would be fuming

If Alexander-Arnold were to leave the club, this would surely make Liverpool less of an attacking force to be reckoned with. The Englishman made more key passes per game (2.1) in the Premier League last season than any other Reds player according to WhoScored.

Given how prominent the defender has been for Liverpool since making his senior debut for the club in terms of appearances as well as goals and assists, and the fact that he is a product of their youth system, it would be safe to assume that the Liverpool fans would be fairly angry if they sold him.

Alexander-Arnold recently signed a new long-term deal at the Merseyside club, saying that he was "honoured" to be offered it and that it was a "no-brainer" to sign on. That suggests to us that he isn't likely to be leaving Liverpool anytime soon, or that he wants to be at another club anyway, which would be unfortunate for Madrid and their apparent hopes to lure him to Spain.

Moving forward, we expect Alexander-Arnold to keep playing regularly for the Reds and probably sign another contract nearer the time when his current one ends rather than be tempted to move elsewhere.

That said, if they did lose him for whatever reason, it would be a sizeable blow to Klopp and the Anfield supporters.

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