LIVERPOOL are £100,000-a-week short on persuading Trent Alexander-Arnold to sign a new five-year deal.
Anfield chiefs have offered the England full-back a £70,000 rise on his current £180,000 weekly wage.
But Alexander-Arnold is holding out for £350,000 to match another of the Prem leaders’ contract rebels, Mohamed Salah.
TAA’s conract is up in the summer and he knows Real Madrid are waiting to offer him what he wants.
Like Salah and skipper Virgil van Dijk, Alexander-Arnold can talk to interested foreign parties next month.
TAA has told close pals that he would like to stay, especially as he is now settled into a £5million Cheshire mansion.
The Liverpool vice-skipper also has a new girlfriend in Estelle Behnke.
Yet SunSport understands he is determined to get what he believes he is worth – and what Spanish giants Real are prepared to pay him.
He said last week: “I have been at the club 20 years and I have signed four or five contract extensions.
“None of those have been played out in public. This one won’t be either.”
Meanwhile, Van Dijk, 33, has been offered a new contract in the club’s bid to hold on to their star defender beyond June when his current deal runs out.
However, the Merseysiders’ proposal reportedly fell short of the centre-back’s expectations and so far there has been no breakthrough on the value or length of an extension.
The Reds have also taken “concrete steps” in contract negotiations with Salah, 32.
The winger’s future has taken precedence among fans and media but he has dropped multiple hints that his eight-year stint at Anfield might be coming to an end.
Last month, the Egypt international told Sky Sports that “no offer” had been made to extend his stay.
So far the club’s owners FSG have refused to bow to Salah’s wage demands and he knows there would be mega money on offer in Saudi Arabia.
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