Trent Alexander Arnold fan abuse: Could Real Madrid transfer speculation harm Liverpool?

Neither Virgil van Dijk nor Mohamed Salah – who has made repeated claims in interviews that he is not close to agreeing a new deal with Liverpool and expects to leave in the summer – have been targeted with derision or abuse during matches.

The fact that Alexander-Arnold was born and raised in Liverpool seems key to that. Fans of all clubs often believe that they have a greater right to ownership over the careers of local players, and that they are owed greater loyalty by “one of our own”.

Roberts added: “People think: ‘You’ve grown up as a scouser, a Liverpool fan, you’ve lived our dream, and therefore how could you possibly consider going anywhere else?’ But I think yes, he was a fan once, and now he’s a professional sportsman. We’ve got to appreciate that fact, and I don’t think people do. We just look at it from our perspective and think we would never leave.

“If you’ve given 20 years to the same club, you’re well within your rights to say you fancy something else because you only live once. It’s all a bit mad.

“When it’s the other way around, when a club just says ‘see you’ to a player, we don’t really think about that much, do we?”

Speaking on Sky Sports, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said: “I have constantly defended him [Alexander-Arnold]. The lad came for nothing and if he leaves for nothing, there should be no criticism for that.

“My only problem with Trent, if he leaves… it’s not anger or upset with him, it’s disappointment… My only disappointment is Trent is a local lad, Liverpool fan. Equalling Manchester United in league titles, winning a European Cup… he could be captain in two or three years and the guy who lifts these trophies.

“Liverpool supporters are disappointed. That’s where my disappointment comes from.”