Former Liverpool defender Glen Johnson has vowed that Trent Alexander-Arnold would probably pick staying at Anfield over a move to Real Madrid if the deals on offer from both parties were "equal."

Speculation over the 26-year-old's long-term future on Merseyside refuses to go away after the right-back entered the final six months of his contract. As it stands, the academy graduate would be permitted to depart his boyhood club for nothing at the end of the current campaign if he is unable to reach an agreement over renewing terms.

Amid this uncertainty, reports emerged in the past week that Los Blancos chiefs have made an offer of £20 million ($25m) for the Kop hero's services. The Reds rejected this approach for their homegrown star, but the situation remains that Alexander-Arnold is now permitted to talk to foreign clubs about a potential pre-contract agreement.

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Now, former Liverpool and England full-back Johnson has claimed that he feels the player would be tempted to stay with the club he has represented since the age of six - if they were able to match any hypothetical offer from Madrid. In an exclusive interview with Liverpool.com, the retired ace acknowledged: "He hasn’t got a contract, so he’s going to need to play football somewhere.

"Also, whether he has a contract or not, Madrid have a big pull. A lot of players would love to play for Madrid. Obviously, he’s already at a huge club, but he’s already won everything there is to win, so you can kind of understand why [his contract situation] gets attention. But I’m sure if the deals were equal, he’d probably pick Liverpool."

Johnson also acknowledged that Alexander-Arnold may ultimately find the lure of the Santiago Bernabeu impossible to resist if he is looking for a new challenge and a chance to prove his worth overseas. He continued: "It’s a super tough one. Obviously, he’s born and raised in Liverpool but one of the biggest factors will be the criticism he gets.

"Everyone says how bad he is at defending. Yes, he’s had bad games defensively, but he’s won everything. If he wins the league again, I don’t think anyone can say anything [in response] to what he decides [to do].

"With the criticism he gets outside of Liverpool in this country, he isn’t going to get that at Madrid. He won’t need to defend anywhere near as much. Let’s face it, it’s Madrid. With the quality of life, it’s going to be hard to turn down."

Either way, Johnson has been left baffled that a player of Alexander-Arnold's stature has been allowed to enter the final months of his contract at Anfield. Turing his ire on Liverpool chiefs, he said: "In my eyes, it should have been wrapped up before.

"The longer you leave it, of course, giants are going to come calling. Now, they’re hard to bat away because they’re so close to getting someone for free. For me, it should have been resolved last year or even earlier."

The former Chelsea and West Ham defender also pushed back on the theory that the Reds stalwart's performance in the 2-2 draw with Manchester United was affected by the outside noise surrounding his future. He said: "I don’t think so. Of course, it’s on his mind, but when United come to town, it gets your full attention.

"So I don’t think the performance was down to the Madrid saga, it’s just sometimes what Trent does. He’s done it before. It’s just a surprise it was in such a big game, I guess. I don’t think it was [a distraction], as anything can be going on with the lads off the pitch, but that’s one of the biggest games of the year, so I don’t think that would have been on his mind during the game, no."

"It’s just one of those moments, and good players have bad games."

Ultimately, Johnson contends that the situation surrounding Alexander-Arnold is not something that is particularly uncommon within the game. Claiming that the player may well be left unfazed by the rumors, he added: "The thing is, this sort of thing goes on all the time in football. All the time. It doesn’t all hit the press.

"So there’s speculation pretty much around any player that is doing well. It’s just that people don’t always hear about it. Of course, when it was happening to me I was just like ‘until it’s concrete or until I need to make a decision, I don’t need to know’.

"But to some people, it is absolutely everything, and they can get excited about what teams are talking about them or mentioning their name. So I guess it just depends on the individual, really."