Liverpool boss Arne Slot believes Trent Alexander-Arnold being sidelined thorough injury has caused whispers around his future to restart.
Alexander-Arnold has not played since sustaining an ankle injury during the Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain on March 11.
During his enforced absence it was reported he had agreed personal terms with Real Madrid ahead of a free transfer switch to the Santiago Bernabeu at the end of the season.
Slot believes it is no coincidence that the speculation gained traction when the England international was sidelined.
He said: “His situation is unfortunately that he is injured, otherwise people would have probably spoken about him that he had one or two brilliant performances for the England team. But he’s injured and for him that means he is fully focused on his recovery and for us that means we are trying to help him to be back as soon as he can.”
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Alexander-Arnold is one of three key Liverpool players whose deals expire in June, along with Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk.
Slot has done a remarkable job in keeping the focus on the field and Liverpool will head into tomorrow night’s derby with Everton with at least a nine-point lead at the summit of the Premier League.
He aded: “We have never been focused on those talks, we have always been focused on what we have to do.
“For Virgil and Mo that is trying to win the Merseyside derby, and for Trent that is making sure he can get fit as soon as he can.
“It’s a situation that is there for eight months now and all these three players have performed so well under these circumstances so it doesn’t affect me at all.
“I think there was a bit of noise about us losing against Paris St-Germain and us losing against Newcastle as well. I always try to be rational. I was a bit more frustrated about the [EFL Cup] final, because I think we deserved to lose that one. For the first time we deserved to lose a football game.”
Nine finals to come for Liverpool
The international break has allowed Liverpool to reset after the defeats to PSG and Newcastle and Slot says they are determined to finish the season strongly.
“We are all looking forward to the upcoming nine games [in the Premier League],” he said. “The players are looking refreshed, in my opinion.
“But it wasn’t all negative. We played a final against a very good Newcastle team and played a very good game in defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. We played the best game, in my opinion, but unfortunately lost on penalties.
“Now it is going to be nine finals. These games are very important for us, starting with Everton. Not only because it is the Merseyside derby but because we are in such a good position in the league.”
