Hopes of Liverpool agreeing a contract extension with Trent Alexander-Arnold before January 1 now look to be absurdly optimistic. The club vice-captain will enter the final six months of his deal, with a free transfer abroad now appearing increasingly likely.

Finding the net at the weekend, Alexander-Arnold used his celebration to hint that all of the talk around him is not necessarily accurate. That was significant amid claims from Spain that a move to Real Madrid is as good as done.

But while his future may not be committed to the Bernabeu just yet, nor is it bound to Anfield. And as he enters the period where he can talk to foreign clubs, Gary Lineker has given him some advice.

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Lineker, of course, is well-placed to weigh in on moving from England to La Liga. He made a successful switch from Merseyside to Barcelona — and he has suggested Alexander-Arnold would flourish at arch-rival Real Madrid.

"It seems to make a lot of sense to me,” Lineker said on The Rest is Football. "Free transfer is how Real Madrid have done things recently.

"He [Trent] is really close to Jude Bellingham and would fit in there beautifully. He would be a massive success. They wouldn’t focus on his defending critically as we do here – overly in my opinion.

"It’s a great fit and would be a huge loss for Liverpool, but they have a youngster coming through [Conor Bradley] who has done really well. I think it is highly likely that will happen, although I have no inside information whatsoever."

The Bellingham relationship is certainly not lost on Liverpool fans. For the best part of a year, it was used to fuel hope that the midfielder would come to Anfield; this would be a cruel reversal of that dream.

And it's true that the free transfer would be in keeping with how Real Madrid has done its business in recent years. Just last summer, Kylian Mbappe arrived for nothing from PSG.

Whether scrutiny on Alexander-Arnold would really be less fierce is up for debate. Lineker would know more than most about the day-to-day reality of the spotlight on Spain's "big two", but the idea that the 26-year-old would simply be free to express himself without much in the way of external pressure seems fanciful.

Regardless, it's hard to imagine he would ever be adored in the way he is currently loved by the Liverpool faithful. Lineker deserves to be listened to when it comes to the upsides of leaving for La Liga, but the benefits of staying and becoming an all-time club legend cannot be overstated.

Liverpool.com says: Listening to Lineker is a reminder that Alexander-Arnold does not face a simple decision. It's easy for fans to question why the Academy graduate would even have anything to think about, but the proposal on the table is an objectively attractive one.

After all, Alexander-Arnold has won everything with Liverpool. La Liga would be a new experience, alongside one of his best friends in football, and at a club where competing for the Champions League is a given.

But Liverpool looks at least as competitive under Slot, and Alexander-Arnold has the chance to become an iconic figure spanning two trophy-laden eras at his boyhood club. That is not something to walk away from lightly, even when faced with the bright lights of Madrid.