REAL MADRID will try again to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold before the end of the month.
Liverpool rejected Real’s previous attempt to land the England star, refusing to even entertain a potential offer of £20million.
But reports in Spain say Bernabeu bosses will test the Anfield club’s resolve with another approach.
Real are understood to be confident 26-year-old TAA will be their player next term and a key part of a long-term revamp.
But they also want him to help ease short-term issues that were exposed again in a 5-2 defeat to Barcelona last Sunday.
The LaLiga giants know it will be hard to persuade the Quad-chasing Prem leaders to sell now.
Alexander-Arnold is also reluctant to try to force the issue due to a hostile reaction from fans.
He had a shocker in the 2-2 draw against Manchester United earlier this month with some of the Kop crowd turning on him.
In the meantime, Liverpool are said to have already found a replacement.
According to Bild reporter Christian Falk, they have identified Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich as the man they want to sign if the England star goes.
Like Alexander-Arnold, the German international is also out of contract at the end of the season.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Fans hail ‘agent Jude Bellingham’ as England star is spotted with Real Madrid transfer target in nightclub” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6366526334112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]Falk wrote on X: “Liverpool are considering the signing of Joshua Kimmich.
“Kimmich is a free agent in the summer, Bayern are in talks with Kimmich for a new contract.”
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D103392%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]But Liverpool have been free to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with the player since January 1.
Falk did not clarify whether Liverpool intend to make a January bid or whether they will wait until he is a free agent in the summer.