Real Madrid are reportedly stepping up their pursuit of Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold - and soon there will be little the Reds can do about it. On the front page of Marca this Saturday, the Spaniards turned the heat up with claims that the Englishman has decided he wants to move to the La Liga giants in the summer, for free, and link up with his friend and England teammate Jude Bellingham in the Spanish capital.

It is undoubtedly a strong pitch if you are Alexander-Arnold. A move to Madrid is arguably the pinnacle of football and reuniting with one of your best friends in the process must be inviting.

However, there remains a strong case for the full-back to stay on Merseyside. As a boyhood Liverpool fan, there are very few bigger privileges than representing them.

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There is also the hotly debated topic of legacy. Jurgen Klopp spoke to Philippe Coutinho about this when speculation was rife about his future.

The German told the winger: "Stay here and they will end up building a statue in your honour. Go somewhere else, to Barcelona, to Bayern Munich, to Real Madrid, and you will be just another player.

"Here you can be something more." This would ultimately fall on deaf ears as Coutinho joined Barcelona, before being loaned to Bayern and then sold to Aston Villa.

At 32, Coutinho finds himself on loan again, this time in his native Brazil after a spell last year in Qatar. If you were to ask him about not heeding Klopp's advice, he is unlikely to regret it.

Liverpool were not the force they would go on to be, and he did win the Champions League, Bundesliga and two La Liga titles after leaving the Reds. But perhaps Klopp's words would hold greater significance for Alexander-Arnold.

A playing career is short, and Alexander-Arnold will be a long time retired. You have to think about the future and while he will earn good money in Madrid, there is a danger that he will not have that legendary status at Anfield that he perhaps deserves if he chooses another path or a guaranteed income stream for his retirement.

The emotional tie to the city of Liverpool and the club makes Alexander-Arnold's decision harder than Coutinho's or even Mohamed Salah's and Virgil van Dijk's. Whatever he decides, you can be sure it will have been a painstaking decision for him to make.

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