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James Pearce has delivered some Trent Alexander-Arnold contract news that Liverpool fans will not want to hear.

The 26-year-old appears destined for a seismic summer move to Real Madrid, with negotiations advancing rapidly ahead of his contract expiration on June 30.

The right-back, whose current deal includes no extension clause, is poised to end his 21-year association with the Reds, marking one of the most significant free-agent departures in Premier League history.

Real Madrid is actively pursuing the possibility of accelerating Trent Alexander-Arnold’s anticipated transfer this summer to enable his participation in the upcoming Club World Cup in June.

The expanded 32-team Club World Cup is scheduled to commence on June 15 and run through July 13, 2025, in the United States.

To address the challenges posed by varying transfer windows and contract expiration dates, FIFA has introduced an exceptional registration window from June 1 to June 10, 2025, specifically for clubs participating in the tournament.

This special window aims to allow teams to strengthen their squads and ensure they are at optimal competitive levels for this redesigned global club showcase.

FIFA’s decision to implement this flexible approach, rather than granting temporary contract extensions, is intended to maintain the tournament’s competitive integrity while addressing the complexities of player contracts and transfer timing

However, this will necessitate a potential compensation payment to secure his early release.

But speaking on the Athletic’s FC podcast, James Pearce explained that the noise this week is likely just a result of the international break, but admits that he cannot see a future where the vice-captain is a Liverpool player next season

“The context of it being the international break, everyone craving clarity and certainty of the contract situation with there not being much else to talk about,” Pearce began.

“Of course, there’s also been this constant stream of stories in Spain that ‘it’s done’ or ‘it’s all signed’ and all the rest of it.

And then, there were more of those on Monday evening, and outlets in the UK picked up and regurgitated a lot of it.

“It’s not complete, but they have to inform Liverpool if and when an agreement has been reached – that hasn’t happened yet.”

“The direction of travel has been pretty obvious for quite some time?

We’ve talked about the three contract situations and Trent has always been a bit different from the other two.”

“For all the noise and emotion of the last 24 hours, that clarity is yet to be forthcoming.”

Pearce was then asked by the podcast host if he believes there is any chance of Alexander-Arnold staying, to which the Atheltic reporter gave a very quick ‘no’.

For someone as reliable as Pearce to say this, it really does mean we should resign ourselves to losing our vice-captain at the end of the campaign

While nothing has changed over the international break, despite the noise, he still feels that the 26-year-old will be in white next season.

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