Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool is linked with a move to Real Madrid at the end of the season.
Image: AFP
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, they say. Well, recent goings on among Liverpool fans have proven that scorned women may face some competition.
Reds fans peeved at right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold's potential move to Real Madrid on a free transfer, have taken extreme measures to voice their displeasure at the situation. Some have even erased the prodigious home-grown talent from Liverpool history.
Can you imagine that?
Remember that iconic Trent quick corner in their Uefa Champions League comeback against Barcelona in 2019? Well, there are clips doing the rounds on social media showing Andy Robertson, James Milner or Wataru Endo setting up Divok Origi's winner.
The nerve of some people. Endo will have needed a time machine to even be in that frame. It would be tragic if it wasn't so, so funny.
It also serves up the prospect of similar editing out of performances by fans angry with the drivel their clubs serve up. Some of Manchester United's clips might feature 10 Brunos on the field (couldn't help myself, sorry).
But why the extreme measures in the case of Trent? Surely his long, loyal service to the club and consistently strong form and talent (more so as an attacking threat) merits a better farewell?
He has helped the club to some of it's greatest achievements in recent years. The long association with the Reds may go some way to explaining the bitterness at the perceived snub. Then there is also the issue of the free transfer, meaning there's no money to fund a replacement.
Or maybe it's both.
Club legend Jamie Carragher defended the player's decision to leave on a 'free'. His argument is that the Reds didn't pay a transfer fee for a player that had groomed since the age of six. If he had commanded a huge fee, ala skipper Virgil van Dijk, then their anger would be justified.
Fair point!
What isn't so easy to explain away is the fact that the contracts of the skipper, Trent and striker Mohamed Salah are all expiring at the same time. Mention has been made of the transition from the Jurgen Klopp-era to that of Arne Slot, but it's a massive oversight. Van Dijk and Salah may be in their mid-30s but they have been two of Liverpool's best players this season.
Would Liverpool be on the verge of the title were it not for the defensive stability and vision of Van Dijk, and the lethal finishing and bag full of goals from the evergreen Salah?
Unlikely.
Liverpool's detractors argue that failure to tie down the trio to contract extensions will spell doom for any hopes of Slot's team eclipsing the Red Devils in terms of top-flight league titles next season. Few, however, gave them a chance of joining United on 20 title this season.
The champions-in-waiting will surely have no trouble attracting the cream of the world's footballing talent (at least those not in Real's orbit).
While Trent's future surely lies in Madrid, despite no agreement being reached by Monday, the other two stalwarts could yet stay.
Those level-headed fans who see no malice in Trent's decision to take on a new challenge will no doubt wish him well.
True football fans will be salivating at the prospect of seeing him setting up the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior at the Bernabeu. Carlo Ancelotti's free-flowing style, after all, is likely to suit one of the best passers of a football in England more than Slot's rigid setup.
Those bitter at his decision to move on won't be able to erase his Liverpool legacy, no matter the editing tools at their disposal.