Things got very heated between Jamie Carragher and Daniel Sturridge when they talked about Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The two Sky Sports pundits clashed when discussing the England international’s future after watching Liverpool draw 2-2 with Manchester United – a match which saw Alexander-Arnold perform to a much lower standard than expected.
The issue stemmed from Carragher discussing Real Madrid‘s January interest in the right-back potentially distracting the Liverpool team and the player ahead of their clash with their biggest rivals.
Sturridge was annoyed that Carragher wasn’t defending Alexander-Arnold and was suggesting that his agents had encouraged an offer, and chaos ensued.
Carragher: “When I am talking about Trent, I am disappointed about the Real Madrid stuff coming out, and that being the focus ahead of a big game because the most important thing is Liverpool winning the Premier League.”
Sturridge: “Before Madrid, you had a problem with the situation as well, I am saying.”
Carragher then interrupted and asked Sturridge what the problem was, but the ex-Reds striker didn’t really provide an answer, leading to Carragher saying: “Daniel, tell me what the problem was because that was just waffle.”
Sturridge responded: “This is a simple question I have for you. Are you saying you are happy with Trent leaving for free, or do you want money for him? Which one is it?
“You can’t sit on the fence. You either want him to stay and sign a contract, or you want him to leave now, but you can’t have it both ways – that’s football.
“I am a fan of Liverpool, and I love Trent Alexander-Arnold.”
Carragher: “When did I say I wanted him to be sold now for money, and when did I say I was unhappy with him going for free? I have never, ever said I had a problem with him going for free.
“I’ve constantly defended him to other Liverpool fans and on this show, that the lad came for nothing, and if he leaves for nothing, there should be no criticism for that.
“In terms of selling him right now, I am disappointed because I know how transfers work, how football works – he will have known Real Madrid were putting a bid in.
“Real Madrid can do what they want. My problem is, Liverpool are going for a league title – it’s January, and he will have known that would kick up a fuss ahead of a big game.”
Sturridge: “It’s the same thing as [Mohamed] Salah. You can’t say one thing for Trent, a local lad who should be revered by the fans like yourself, like Steven Gerrard – Trent is one of you guys.
“Someone who has been at the club from the academy to come through to being 27. He’s at a point now where the club have allowed his contract to get to this stage – it wasn’t Trent’s fault.”
At this point, Carragher interrupted him and said that he’d had a go at Salah before Sturridge continued.
“So if Real Madrid decide they are going to test the waters.
“They might have had a flirt. We know football. We know what’s happening, but that’s not a problem.”
Alexander-Arnold is into the last six months of his contract, which means he can start to negotiate deals with overseas clubs for the summer.
There is no indication that this is happening, but talkSPORT understands that Real Madrid did ask Liverpool if the England international was for sale this month.
But the Reds firmly rejected that idea, while Alexander-Arnold had no interest in a January transfer.
He is still being tipped to leave Anfield at the end of the season and join good friend Jude Bellingham at the Bernabeu in the summer, but for now, he’s a Liverpool player.
However, that information about Los Blancos’ January interest came out earlier this week ahead of the Reds facing their great rivals at Anfield, which Carragher clearly believes was a distraction.
Earlier on in the show, he also suggested that Alexander-Arnold’s representatives had invited the bid from Real Madrid.
Despite the heated discussion, Alexander-Arnold’s manager, Arne Slot, doesn’t think the Real Madrid rumours contributed to his display.
Speaking at his post-match press conference about his right-back’s performance, he said: “I think nine out of ten people will tell you that it affected him. I’m [the] one of the ten that tells you that I don’t think that affected him.
“What affected him is that he had to play against Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, two starters for Portugal, great, great players.
“If these players set themselves to a game – and that is what United once in a while does – then it’s very difficult to play against them.
“I think that is more difficult for Trent to play against than the rumours that were there during the week.
“But that’s my opinion, and probably everybody’s going to tell you that it had to do with the rumours.”