Arne Slot believes Real Madrid’s pursuit of Trent Alexander-Arnold will not diminish the Liverpool crowd’s support for the homegrown defender, or prove a distraction, against Manchester United on Sunday.

Real formalised their interest in Alexander-Arnold this week when making an approach to sign the 26-year-old in the January window. Liverpool rejected the enquiry and made it clear they have no interest in selling the right-back this month, despite the prospect of losing him on a free transfer when his contract expires at the end of the season. Real’s first official move plus the impasse over a new Liverpool contract increases doubt over Alexander-Arnold’s Anfield future. But Slot is confident the bond between Liverpool fans and the player will not be undermined.

Related: ‘Wait and see’: Real Madrid keep their counsel over Trent Alexander-Arnold

“Our fans have always been so supportive and have been supporting their team and their players for so many years,” said the Liverpool head coach. “I fully trust that they will react in the right manner because we’ve been constantly together in the half-year I have been here. And I think that is something that stands out here that, for so many years, the team and the fans have been together. That has created so many special games and so many special things for this club that they don’t need me to tell them how they should react.”

Slot would not give a categorical assurance that Alexander-Arnold will remain at Liverpool beyond this transfer window. His noncommittal, however, stems from an intention to leave all contract talks to Liverpool’s sporting director, Richard Hughes, and to focus his energies on beating Ruben Amorim’s struggling team. Liverpool’s determination to keep Alexander-Arnold has not changed.

Asked if he was convinced the England international would still be a Liverpool player on 1 February, Slot replied: “I am convinced that he is playing for us on Sunday and I think it is so difficult in football to talk about what happens in a month or in six months. You can also ask me the question: ‘Are you convinced that Virgil [van Dijk] and Mo [Salah] are here next season?’ It is such a difficult question to answer because there is hardly any long term in football, especially not for a manager, so your only focus is on the short term. The only thing I do know is that he [Alexander-Arnold] is fully focused and ready to play for us on Sunday and as long as he is here.”

The uncertainty over the Liverpool futures of Alexander-Arnold, Salah and Van Dijk, who are all in the final six months of their current deals, could be a distraction from the team’s relentless Premier League title challenge. But Slot sees it differently. “Maybe it’s even helpful,” he claimed. “Because if the talk is only about how great we are doing then maybe every week I have to have a meeting to tell the players it is not perfect yet and we have to do better.

“Now it is also about different things, not everyone telling them how great they are, so sometimes that can help as well. But for me it doesn’t distract at all. I think we get enough credit for the way we play and here in the building we don’t even talk about this [speculation]. This is part of the business we’re in. It doesn’t distract me at all and I don’t think for the players either.”

Salah reiterated to Sky Sports that there had been no movement on his contract. “There is no progress there,” he said. “We are far away from any progress. We just need to wait and see.”

Liverpool have rejected bids of £15m and £16m respectively from Crystal Palace and Ipswich for winger Ben Doak. The 19-year-old is enjoying a successful loan at Middlesbrough, where his performances in the Championship have attracted interest from numerous clubs. Palace are the first to make a move for the gifted Doak, who Liverpool signed from Celtic for a compensation fee of £600,000 in March 2022, but their offer is way below the valuation.

Meanwhile, Liverpool and United supporters are to stage a joint protest before Sunday’s game against the rising cost of tickets and the targeting of concessionary tickets for the young, elderly and disabled fans at Premier League clubs. Representatives of Spirit of Shankly, the Liverpool supporters union, and the 1958, the United supporters’ coalition, have organised the protest as part of the #StopExploitingLoyalty campaign.