Former Liverpool captain Jamie Redknapp has admitted he was shocked at the criticism Trent Alexander-Arnold received after his performance against Manchester United on Sunday.

In his first appearance for Liverpool since Real Madrid made an audacious approach to sign him on New Year's Eve, Alexander-Arnold was singled out by some supporters for his below-par performance against Ruben Amorim's side. In his 85 minutes on the field, the 26-year-old won zero duels and was partly to blame for United's opening goal, which came down the left after Alexander-Arnold failed to follow the run of Lisandro Martinez.

Arne Slot defended Alexander-Arnold's display after the game at Anfield and insisted the defender's performance was not a byproduct of recent speculation about his future. However, Redknapp believes Alexander-Arnold was affected by Madrid's approach earlier in the week, but admitted he couldn't believe the criticism the England international has faced since.

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Assessing the situation on the Sports Agents podcast, Redknapp said: “I couldn’t quite believe it, to be honest. It was almost like he was in a bit of a daze all game, and nothing really seemed to happen for him. And you do sense it, no matter what people say, as a player, when the fans are maybe starting to get a bit edgy with you.

“I think Trent can have off days defensively. You know, there is absolutely no doubt his defensive attributes are far outweighed by how good he is going with the ball. He's a genius with that right foot. But defensively, he can be found out. And that was certainly one of those days.

“I've seen him have worse games than that. He can have those types of games. He had one. There's no two ways about it, and they exploited it. But I think now for Trent, he just needs to make sure that he finishes the season really well.

“It does feel like all of a sudden the whole narrative about Madrid has sort of started to take over, and I think that’s probably come because Madrid made the bid. I think that's probably brought it to the forefront. And maybe by trying to be a little bit clever, almost trying to help Trent, I think they've actually made the situation worse.”

However, Redknapp admitted he could understand why Alexander-Arnold and others player can be tempted by the lure of the 15-time European champions.

“I think there's only one club as a player where you just… with that white kit, and when Real Madrid come calling, it's almost impossible to turn down,” he said. “My view is if you get an opportunity to go and try something, try a different culture, go and do something different in your life, in your career, how can he begrudge anyone that?”