Gary Neville has shock theory about Trent Alexander-Arnold's Real Madrid move as 'unforgivable' claim made

Gary Neville has come up with a theory about Trent Alexander-Arnold's potential move to Real Madrid.

As things stand, Alexander-Arnold is set to walk away from Liverpool on a free transfer upon the expiration of his contract.

It has been widely reported that Liverpool's efforts to persuade the full-back to stay have failed as Alexander-Arnold is said to be closing in on a move to Spanish La Liga giants Madrid.

Speaking about the situation on the latest episode of Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky Bet, former Manchester United star Neville claimed that Alexander-Arnold might not be a guaranteed starter at Los Blancos.

He said: "I said that I thought he [Trent Alexander-Arnold] had to get more serious about his defending – I’ve said that constantly – or else it will cause him problems.

"I think it will cause him a problem at Real Madrid because they have Federico Valverde, who is playing right-back currently, and Dani Carvajal when he’s back – he’s going to have some serious competition. They are brilliant players, and he’s going to find it tough there.

"Carvajal is a better full-back than Trent because of what he gives to the team. It’s unbelievable what Valverde is doing for them at the moment, so he’s going to have competition when he goes."

Trent Alexander-Arnold is set to leave Liverpool this summer. Image: Getty

Neville continued: "Coming back to Trent, I said he needs to get more serious about his defending, and that was proven by the fact he couldn’t get in the England team for many years, and he gets subbed for Liverpool a lot. I’ve never known a right-back get subbed so many times in important periods of matches."

In addition to Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah are yet to agree to new terms and will also leave the club for free in the summer.

Neville then criticised Liverpool owners, FSG, for allowing their star players' contracts to run down.

He said: "So, Liverpool, a couple of years ago around the time where VVD was going through a patch where he was teetering a little bit and Salah was there – they looked at them and thought, ‘We’ll wait with you,’ and the players are probably holding that against them now.

"With Trent, it’s unforgivable. Whether you’re going through a turbulence in the boardroom or not, if you’re the owner of the club and you look at Trent two years ago, even if you have disruption in your sporting department, you look at him and think, ‘We’ve got to sign him up, he’s one of our own.’"

Gary Neville was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.