Transfer news LIVE: Alexander-Arnold offered bumper Liverpool deal

In case you missed it over the weekend, Tottenham announced the arrival of Czech goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky, who offers added depth after Guglielmo Vicario’s injury.

The 21-year-old, who has already earned admiration around a lot of Europe despite just breaking into the Slavia Prague team this season, is expected to cost £12.5m with add-ons.

Another signing to announce as Ipswich have agreed a loan deal for Atalanta defender Ben Godfrey. The deal for the ex-Everton man and two-cap England international was announced yesterday in the wake of the draw with Fulham.

“It’s been an exciting couple of days and I’m just delighted to have signed and can’t wait to meet the lads and get started,” Godfrey told the Ipswich website.

“I have really enjoyed speaking to the manager (Kieran McKenna) and to have the opportunity to work under him now is something I’m very excited about. I’ve watched a lot of the games from the first half of the season and you can tell from those that the group is a tight one, full of players giving everything to achieve their goals.

“I’ve not played as much as I would have liked so far this season, but I feel ready to contribute and am looking forward to getting out there.”

Liverpool boss Arne Slot was keen to defend Alexander-Arnold after he was exposed defensively against Man Utd. He acknowledges that people will think the England internaitonal has been distracted by links with a move to Real Madrid but disagrees with that notion.

The Dutchman said: “I think nine out of 10 people will tell you that it affected him. I’m (the) one of the 10 that tells you that I don’t think that affected him.

“What affected him is that he had to play against Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot, two starters for Portugal, great, great players. “If these players set themselves to a game – and that is what United once in a while does – then it’s very difficult to play against them.

“I think that is more difficult for Trent to play against than the rumours that were there during the week. But that’s my opinion, and probably everybody’s going to tell you that it had to do with the rumours.”

However, Alexander-Arnold has been roundly criticised for his poor performance in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with Manchester United on Sunday.

Sky Sports pundits Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher laid in to the right-back as he was repeatedly caught out defensively.

“We talk about how brilliant Trent is going forward, but Trent’s defending today, my goodness, it’s like schoolboy stuff,” said Keane. “There’s talk about him going to Real Madrid – the way he’s defending he’s going to Tranmere Rovers after this. He’s got to do better defensively, he has to do better.”

Meanwhile, Carragher said on commentary: “I said I expected a big performance from Trent Alexander-Arnold today after all the talk of going to Real Madrid this week. He better hope Real Madrid aren’t watching this.”

The 26-year-old continues to be linked with a move to Real Madrid, and he has just six months remaining on his contract now.

The latest rumour surrounding Trent Alexander-Arnold’s future is a positive one for Liverpool fans, with the Daily Mirrorreporting that the club have offered the England international a five-year contract worth £78m (and £300,000 per week) to stay at Anfield. 

As ever, the first weekend of the January window has seen plenty of rumours begin to gather pace.

Nevertheless, the biggest news of the weekend was probably Tottenham’s signature of Antonin Kinsky as a stand-in for the injured Guglielmo Vicario.

The 21-year-old, who has already earned admiration around a lot of Europe despite just breaking into the Slavia Prague team this season, is expected to cost £12.5m with add-ons.