According to reports on Tuesday, Trent Alexander-Arnold’s transfer to Real Madrid is on the verge of being completed when his Liverpool contract expires at the end of the season.
The defender has long been linked with a free transfer to the Bernabeu, and it is believed that talks between the 26-year-old and the Spanish giants are progressing.
Since January, the England international has been able to discuss terms with foreign clubs. He started out in the youth ranks at Liverpool and has spent more than 20 years at the Premier League.
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On January 5, 2025, during the English Premier League football match between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield in Liverpool, north-west England, Trent Alexander-Arnold (L) and Diogo Dalot (R) square off against Diogo Dalot (R). (Photo by Darren Staples/AFP)
Alexander-Arnold made his Liverpool debut as an 18-year-old in 2016.
With his boyhood club, the right-back has won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, and Club World Cup, and is currently 12 points clear of Arne Slot’s side for the top of the table.
At the end of the season, Alexander-Arnold is one of three important Liverpool players with no contracts, with Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah’s prospects still uncertain.
Alexander-Arnold missed Liverpool’s defeat to Newcastle in the League Cup final earlier this month because of an ankle injury.
After drawing 0-0 with Japan on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia coach Herve Renard said, “everything can happen.” This kept his team’s chances of winning the 2026 World Cup alive.
In the battle for second place in Group C’s third-round Asian qualifying, the Saudis were subject to intense pressure from Japan, which was hostile, in Saitama.
With two games left, Australia now leads Saudi Arabia by three points after defeating China 2-0.
The top two teams advance to a second qualifying round, with the top three teams going into the third and fourth rounds, and then automatically advance to the next World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
In their final qualifying match in June, Saudi Arabia takes on Australia, and Renard claimed his country was still in the running for a direct spot.
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The Frenchman said, “There are still two games where everything can happen.”
Before the opening game of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Asian qualification football match against Saudi Arabia in Saitama on March 25, 2025, Japan’s players pose for a team photo. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI/AFP)
We must travel to Bahrain, where Japan and Australia will play, and where Australia will play in the final game.
It’s a difficult fight, they say. We just need to consider the four points we received in these two games, and we look to be better offensively in these two games. ”
Roberto Mancini was fired in October of last year, and Renard led the Saudis to a famous victory over eventual champions Argentina at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
With a 1-0 victory over China last week, the Saudis won their first of five qualifiers, but it was harder to beat runaway group leaders Japan away from home.
He said, “We got a good result this evening.”
You are unable to be open.
I am aware that it wasn’t beautiful. Sorry, but we kept our organization. ”
Japan qualified for Group C with a 2-0 victory over Bahrain last week, making them the first nation to do so.
Japan were unable to convert possession into chances when Celtic striker Daizen Maeda hit the post with a first-half chance.
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said, “We qualified for the World Cup, but there was no drop-off from the players prior to the game.”
We kept our focus on the game, kept our concentration, and stopped the enemy from hitting us on the counter. Both tactically and mentally, the players did very well. ”
Kaoru Mitoma, Ayase Ueda, Ayase Ueda, and Hidemasa Morita were the only players who made the starting lineup for Japan after the victory over Bahrain.
Renard praised his defense for handling a Japan side that had scored 24 goals in eight qualifiers despite the fact that the Saudis were missing players.
Because Japan is a very good team, he said, “You can’t come here when you are very open. You need to be careful.”
I believe the defensive strategy was effective. Offensively, we attempted to enter the space, but we failed miserably. ”
After bringing the Brighton forward back into the squad for their Women’s Nations League games against Belgium next month, England manager Sarina Wiegman says Fran Kirby “broughs a lot of experience and great vision.”
After bringing the Brighton forward back into the squad for their Women’s Nations League games against Belgium next month, England manager Sarina Wiegman says Fran Kirby “broughs a lot of experience and great vision.”
About 125, 000 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), valued at about 125 million, have been seized in Kebbi State by Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) agents in a significant blow to fuel smugglers.
According to Persecondnews, this massive seizure, which was carried out as part of “Operation Whirlwind,” is the largest fuel bust since the initiative’s inception.
Fuel smuggling poses a significant economic threat, according to ACG Hissaini Ejibunu, the national coordinator of Operation Whirlwind, on Tuesday, contributing to revenue losses, artificial scarcity, and security risks.
According to Ejibunu, “We are committed to dismantling these smuggling networks,” “Fuel smuggling is a major economic threat.”
4 375 jerrycans, each 25 litre, and 54 200 litre drums, each contained the confiscated fuel.
Prior to being intercepted in Tsamiya, officers had been watching the trucks being loaded with the fuel. They were registered in the Republic of Benin.
The collaboration between the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) was credited with the operation’s success.
The officers’ vigilance was commended by Customs Comptroller-General Bashir Adeniyi, who also thanked Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, the country’s top economic crime advisor, for his leadership.
Adeniyi urged Nigerians to report suspicious activity in support of Customs’ anti-smuggling efforts.
“This operation demonstrates the effectiveness of inter-agency collaboration. We are still holding economic saboteurs accountable and destroying smuggling networks, Adeniyi said.
The introduction of a cheek swab test to determine an athlete’s biological makeup was approved by World Athletics on Tuesday, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
The decision-making Council of the international track and field federation, according to Sebastian Coe, was a “really important” way to safeguard the female category.
In a press conference following the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China, Coe said, “It’s important to do it because it keeps everything that we’ve been talking about, especially recently, about actually guaranteeing the integrity of female women’s sport.”
We believe that this will give consumers confidence and keep the competition’s absolute focus on integrity.
Coe claimed that the decision was made following extensive discussion of the proposal.
Although he noted that the swab test was not deemed to be excessively intrusive, “overwhelmingly, the view has come back that this is absolutely the way to go.”
You acknowledge the fact that this is the world we live in, he said, confident that the policy would be upheld by legal challenges.
If I had been anything other than prepared to face the challenge head-on, I would never have chosen to pursue this path.
“Our DSD (difference of sex development) regulations have us going to the Court of Arbitration.”
They have been upheld, and after appeal, they have once more been upheld. So we will continue to fight for the female category and take all necessary steps to protect it.
