Trent Alexander-Arnold is expected to join Real Madrid in the summer transfer window, despite Liverpool making frequent attempts to hand him a new contract throughout this season

It certainly feels like the saga has benefited nobody: not Liverpool, who have had uncertainty shrouding the future of one of their crown jewels; not the player, who has surely been conscious of the speculation; and not even Madrid, who would have wanted him to join in January given the injury to right-back Dani Carvajal.