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But while the Reds remain hopeful of a successful resolution in negotiations with Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk over a new deal, Trent Alexander-Arnold continues to also ponder an offer from Real Madrid.

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The prospect of losing a homegrown talent to the European Super League advocates for no transfer fee has become an increasingly emotional topic of discussion among Reds supporters.

READ MORE:Trent Alexander-Arnold has given Liverpool a genuine concern as real transfer question emergesREAD MORE:EXCLUSIVE: Mamadou Sakho speaks out on Liverpool exit, Jurgen Klopp spat and doping ban

But one former Liverpool player believes the grass has often not proven to be greener on the other side for those who depart the Reds while still far away from retirement age.

“Every competition that Trent Alexander-Arnold has played in, he has won," says Mark Lawrenson, speaking to Paddy Power.

Trent has been outstanding and is the best right-back I’ve seen for Liverpool for a long time – good luck to him.”

But is Lawrenson right in his assertion Suarez is the exception to the rule that leaving Liverpool rarely improves an already established player?

However, it does bring up another valid point.

The 15 most expensive players sold by Liverpool have all departed Anfield in the last 15 years.

Many of those, though, were sold to clubs lower down the pecking order than the Reds or were allowed to leave having, for a variety of reasons, not quite made the grade at Anfield.

For greater context, it's worth looking at those players who, having been first-team fixtures with Liverpool during that same time period, have moved on to teams who, like the Reds, have been Champions League regulars and often reach the knockout stages of the competition.

Some, such as Pepe Reina when moving to Bayern Munich, Yossi Benayoun joining Chelsea and Xherdan Shaqiri switching to Lyon, were already past their peak as players, and the same could be said more recently of Sadio Mane when going to Bayern Munich and Gini Wijnaldum leaving for Paris Saint-Germain on a free.

Raul Meireles, who went on to win trophies at Chelsea, was only at Liverpool for a season and Takumi Minamino, now at Monaco, was never a regular.

But those still in their prime when departing have, by and large, done well.

But while Fernando Torres, who left several months later, could rightly show the medals he won at Chelsea, he was a pale imitation of the striker who terrorised defences when at Liverpool.

Suarez became an even greater attacking threat when linking up with Lionel Messi and Neymar at Barcelona in 2014, and Raheem Sterling won a clutch of honours after joining Manchester City in controversial fashion the next summer.

In the Jurgen Klopp era, Phillipe Coutinho's £142million sale to Barcelona allowed the Reds to bring in Van Dijk and Alisson Becker but sent the Brazilian schemer's career into a nosedive, while Emre Can left on a free transfer for Juventus and will point to a Serie A title and a later Champions League final appearance with Borussia Dortmund.

Clearly, those that continued an upward trend outnumber those whose careers subsequently stalled when leaving Liverpool for a club of similar stature.

But what's interesting is how rare such moves actually have been for players who aren't nearer the end of their playing days than the start, even when Liverpool weren't at the elevated level they are at present.

Indeed, it could be argued that not since Kevin Keegan fancied a fresh challenge in 1977 has an important member of a Reds squad chosen to leave purely on football merit.

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Should, as looks increasingly likely, Alexander-Arnold move to Real Madrid, the chances are he will continue to progress as he would do if staying at Liverpool.
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