Trent Alexander-Arnold is already a Liverpool legend and one of the best creative players in the world… it’s a crying shame English football has never fully appreciated him, writes OLIVER HOLT

And so the battle for Trent Alexander-Arnold has begun in earnest. As the first day of the new year approaches, with the prospect of one of the best players in the sport about to sign a pre-contract deal with a foreign club, it was always going to be that way.

It’s a culture war and a propaganda war. It’s a battle to avoid guilt. It is a struggle to maintain and reaffirm loyalty to the tribes, while at the same time exercising the right to freedom of movement and embracing a new challenge. That is often the way of the modern transfer saga.

Whatever has been going on behind the scenes, as Alexander-Arnold’s contract moves towards completion at Liverpool, it is his suitors at Real Madrid who have broken cover and fired the first salvo.

The front page of Spanish sports daily Marca, which yesterday morning claimed that 26-year-old Alexander-Arnold had told Liverpool he wanted to leave for the Bernabéu next summer, should be treated with a healthy degree of cynicism.

Marca is widely seen as a mouthpiece for Real Madrid and as a tool for the club in transfer negotiations. His claims were met with a denial that Alexander-Arnold had told Liverpool such a thing.

But the story was at least an indication that Madrid’s long-rumored interest in Liverpool’s richly talented right-back is real and the Premier League leaders will have to fight fiercely to keep hold of him.

Here’s something else worth mentioning, something every Liverpool fan and every neutral who loves the game also knows: Alexander-Arnold’s signature is worth fighting for. He’s the kind of player who is worth the price of admission in his own right.

He is probably the best passer in the English game. His cross is similar to the way David Beckham scored from wide. His vision, his reading of the game and the movements of those around him are breathtaking.

He is a constant among the Premier League’s top five ball-playing crowd-pleasers, players who see things others cannot. He is in that company with Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and James Maddison.

It’s partly for that reason that I hope Alexander-Arnold signs a new contract with Liverpool, stays at the club for the rest of his career, takes over as captain when Virgil van Dijk leaves and continues his status as one of the legends of the club strengthens. .

It is a privilege to see him play in this country and if he goes to La Liga it will strengthen Spanish football and weaken the English game. He is a rare talent and the Premier League would be poorer without him.

But I don’t agree with those who say that if he goes to Madrid, he will disappear in the shadow of Kylian Mbappé, Vinicius Jr. and Alexander-Arnold’s boyfriend, Jude Bellingham. I don’t agree with the idea that his talent will remain hidden in Spain.

Because – and this is not Liverpool’s fault – the truth is that Alexander-Arnold has never been fully appreciated in English football. He has fallen victim to our parochialism and our incurable football puritanism.

It is an inescapable fact that English football fans talk far more about Alexander-Arnold’s perceived vulnerabilities as a defender than the reality that he is one of the best creative talents in the world.

In English football we don’t forgive the occasional loss of a man or the occasional catch out of position because you’ve dedicated yourself to creating a goal for a teammate at the other end of the pitch.

Alexander-Arnold and Palmer, along with Bellingham, should be the heartbeat of every England team for the next decade. Yet a majority of England supporters still remain bizarrely lukewarm in their attitude towards Liverpool’s most impressive right-back.

That’s after he’s already won everything there is to win in the club game. It is after he created iconic moments, such as the trick corner that eliminated Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final at Anfield and achieved the greatest comeback in the history of the European Cup.

Liverpool fans may appreciate him, but the wider English game does not. Perhaps that has something to do with a deep-seated snobbery towards Liverpool. Perhaps that is why Mo Salah is consistently overlooked when it comes to trophies, despite the astonishing numbers he puts up at Liverpool.

Also forget the suggestion that Alexander-Arnold can only become a Liverpool legend if he stays at the club this summer. After everything he has achieved at the club and all the trophies he has won, he is already a Liverpool legend. Or he should be. That status should be untouchable.

Again, I hope he stays at Liverpool. But the fear that lingers is that he will only get the recognition his talents deserve if he distances himself from a football culture that cannot stop putting him in the straightjacket of a defender.

A move to Madrid wouldn’t diminish him. It would make him the superstar he was supposed to be here. Dani Carvajal, Madrid’s current right back, has a serious knee injury and will also turn 33 in a few weeks. Alexander-Arnold would be the perfect replacement.

Until his future is resolved, it’s best to appreciate the talent in our midst. Leave aside the frothing voices that responded to Marca by demanding Alexander-Arnold be dropped immediately. That would be madness.

All that matters now is that Alexander-Arnold is part of a Liverpool team that, with each passing week, is increasingly looking to be the best side in the Premier League and the most exciting side to watch.

With Manchester City appearing to be a spent force, Arsenal fearing the impact of losing Saka and Chelsea looking a year away from a sustained challenge, Alexander-Arnold looks increasingly likely to add a second Premier League winners’ medal to his career will add. collection.

If he stays at Liverpool afterwards, English football will be better for it. If he goes to the Bernabeu, it may be worth remembering that too many people didn’t appreciate his talent until it was too late.