Neither Virgil van Dijk nor Mohamed Salah – who has repeatedly claimed in interviews that he is He is not close to agreeing a new deal with Liverpool He is expected to leave in the summer – and has been targeted for taunts or abuse during matches.
The fact that Alexander-Arnold was born and raised in Liverpool seems to be the key to this. Fans of all clubs often believe that they have greater ownership over the careers of local players, and are owed greater loyalty by 'one of our players'.
Roberts added: “People think: 'I grew up as a Liverpool fan, I lived our dream, so how can you think about going anywhere else?' But I think yeah, he used to be a fan, now he's a professional athlete and we have to appreciate that fact, and I don't think people do it just from our point of view and think we'll never leave.
“If you give 20 years to the same club, you have the right to say you want something else because you only live once. It's all a bit crazy.
“When it's the other way around, when the club says to the player 'See you', we don't think much about it, do we?”
Speaking on Sky Sports, former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said: “I constantly defended him (Alexander-Arnold). The player came for nothing, and if he leaves for nothing, there should be no criticism of that.”
“My only problem with Trent, if he leaves… is not anger or annoyance with him, it's disappointment… My only disappointment is that Trent is a local player, a Liverpool fan. Tied with Manchester United in the league titles, won the European Cup.” … He could be a captain in two or three years and he's the guy hoisting these trophies.
“Liverpool fans are disappointed. Hence my disappointment.”