It wasn’t exactly the news Liverpool fans wanted to ring in the new year with. It was around seven hours before midnight that news started to emerge of Real Madrid’s dreaded, if inevitable, approach for Trent Alexander-Arnold.

It was quickly rebuffed by Liverpool; the discussions didn’t even get as far as a price being banded about. The club showed its mettle against an outfit in Madrid that tends to try and throw its weight around, be that over the Super League or the Ballon d’Or ceremony.

But Liverpool stood from. The focus, quite rightly, is on the here and now, and losing Trent Alexander-Arnold midway through the season could easily derail Liverpool’s four-pronged silverware ambitions.

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But Real’s approach is the first clear indication from the 15-time European champions that it wants to lure Alexander-Arnold to the Bernabeu. It’s not quite the opening gambit of what will likely be a drawn-out chess match, but it’s the most significant yet.

That the news came days after several Spanish outlets ran stories claiming Alexander-Arnold’s summer move to Real is all but done and dusted was no coincidence. It’s hard to see this tale ending with the boyhood red signing an extension at Liverpool, no matter what has been reported by the UK’s national media.

That was also the view of Michael Owen, a man who must relate with Alexander-Arnold’s unique position. “The very fact that Real Madrid have now made their intentions clear towards signing Trent Alexander Arnold leads me to believe that it’s only a matter of time before he signs for them,” the former striker posted on X.

“If he was going to sign a contract extension, Madrid wouldn’t have officially made their move. Secretive talks will have taken place. Huge news.”

The arrival of a new calendar year of course means that Premier League stars whose contracts expire in the next six months are now free to discuss possible moves to clubs overseas. But it’s notable that neither Virgil van Dijk or Mohamed Salah’s names are being linked with departures to specific clubs at this stage.

It would be a surprise if, at the very least, Alexander-Arnold had not given the Madrid hierarchy some indication he is interested in a summer relocation. At least, that’s the opinion held by Jamie Carragher.

“I love Trent as a lad & a player, but his team would’ve told Real Madrid to bid & also would’ve known LFC would turn it down,” he wrote on X. “It’s to try & cover themselves when he leaves for free. Again it’s something the club/fans don’t need with a huge game coming up.”

When Carragher became the one-man call to arms for Liverpool contract justice is unclear, but his public denouncing of Alexander-Arnold ramps up the pressure and noise surrounding his position, ironically the very thing the ex-Red wants to avoid.

It will be fascinating to see what sort of reception the right-back gets at Anfield on Sunday, against Manchester United, nonetheless.

But the increasing sense of inevitability with this particular transfer saga does lend itself to the question of where Liverpool goes next, and who could replace Alexander-Arnold on the right-hand side of defence.

Conor Bradley is the obvious answer after several impressive cameos this season which has built on an encouraging breakthrough campaign under Jurgen Klopp last term. But in terms of replacements, Jeremie Frimpong does seem like an obvious solution if he can be prised away from Bayer Leverkusen, while Monaco’s Vanderson and the soon-to-be-out-of-contract Devyne Rensch at Ajax could be long-term solutions.

Either way, Alexander-Arnold’s situation looks set to pose the first real headache of the Arne Slot era.