And so the fight for Trent Alexander-Arnold has started in earnest. As the first day of the New Year approaches, with the prospect of one of the best players in the game about to be able to sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club, it was always going to be that way.

It is a culture war and a propaganda war. It is a battle to avoid blame. It is a struggle to preserve allegiances and restate tribal loyalties while also exercising the right to freedom of movement and the embrace of a new challenge. That is often the way of the modern transfer saga.

Whatever may have been going on behind the scenes, as Alexander-Arnold’s contract ticks down towards its conclusion at Liverpool, it is his suitors at Real Madrid that have broken cover and fired the first salvo.

The front page in the Spanish sports daily, Marca, yesterday morning that claimed Alexander- Arnold, 26, had told Liverpool he wanted to leave for the Bernabeu next summer needs to be treated with a healthy degree of cynicism.

Marca is widely seen as a mouthpiece for Real Madrid and a tool for the club in its transfer negotiations. Its claims were met with denials that Alexander- Arnold had told Liverpool any such thing.

But the story was an indication, at least, that Madrid’s long- rumoured interest in Liverpool’s lavishly talented right back is real and that the Premier League leaders will have to fight fiercely to keep hold of him.

Here is something else that is worth stating, something every Liverpool fan and every neutral who loves the game also knows — Alexander-Arnold’s signature is worth fighting for. He is the kind of player who is worth the admission fee on his own.

He is probably the best passer in the English game. His crossing is on a par with the way David Beckham used to deliver from wide. His vision, his reading of the game and of the movement of those around him, is breathtaking.

He is a constant in the top five ball-playing crowd pleasers in the Premier League, players who see things others cannot. He is in that company with Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and James Maddison.

It is partly for that reason that I hope Alexander-Arnold signs a new contract at Liverpool, remains at the club for the rest of his career, assumes the captaincy whenever Virgil van Dijk leaves and cements his status as one of the legends of the club.

It is a privilege to watch him play in this country and if he goes to La Liga, it will strengthen Spanish football and weaken the English game. He is a rare talent and the Premier League would be poorer without him.

But I do not agree with those who argue that if he goes to Madrid, he will disappear in the shadows of Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Jr and Alexander-Arnold’s friend, Jude Bellingham. I don’t agree with the idea that his talent will be hidden in Spain.

Because — and this is not the fault of Liverpool — the truth is that Alexander-Arnold has never been fully appreciated in English football. He has been a victim of our parochialism and incurable football puritanism.

It is an inescapable fact that English football fans talk far more about Alexander-Arnold’s supposed vulnerabilities as a defender than the reality that he is one of the best creative talents in the world.

A superb passer, Alexander-Arnold should be a key player for England for the next ten years

In English football, we do not forgive losing a man once in a while or occasionally being caught out of position because you have been committed to creating a goal for a team-mate at the other end of the pitch.

Alexander-Arnold and Palmer, along with Bellingham, should be the heartbeat of every England team for the next ten years. Yet a majority of England supporters still remain bizarrely lukewarm in their attitude towards Liverpool’s most impressive of right backs.

THAT is after he has already won everything there is to win in the club game. It is after he has provided iconic moments like the trick corner that caught out Barcelona at Anfield in a Champions League semi-final second leg and capped the greatest comeback in European Cup history.

Liverpool fans might appreciate him, but the wider English game does not. Perhaps that is something to do with some deep-seated snobbery towards Liverpool. Perhaps that is also why Mo Salah is consistently overlooked for awards, despite the astonishing numbers he puts up at Liverpool.

Forget the suggestions, too, that Alexander-Arnold can only become a Liverpool legend if he stays at the club this summer. After everything he has achieved at the club, all the trophies he has won, he is already a Liverpool legend. Or he should be. That status should be untouchable.

Once again, I hope he stays at Liverpool. But the fear that lingers is that he will only get the recognition his talents deserve if he moves away from a football culture that can’t stop putting him in a defender’s straitjacket.

A move to Madrid would not diminish him. It would turn him into the superstar he should be here. Dani Carvajal, Madrid’s current right back, has a serious knee injury and will turn 33 in a couple of weeks, too. Alexander-Arnold would be the perfect replacement.

Until his future is resolved, the best thing is to appreciate the talent in our midst. Discount the frothing voices that reacted to Marca by demanding that Alexander-Arnold be dropped immediately. That would be madness.

There has been more focus on Alexander-Arnold’s supposed defensive vulnerabilities than his qualities

All that matters for now is that Alexander-Arnold is part of a Liverpool team that is looking, more and more with every week that passes, like the best side in the Premier League and the most thrilling side to watch.

With Manchester City seeming a spent force, Arsenal fearing the impact of the loss of Saka and Chelsea appearing to be a year away from mounting a sustained challenge, Alexander-Arnold looks more and more likely to add a second Premier League winners’ medal to his collection.

If he stays at Liverpool beyond that, English football will be better for it. If he goes to the Bernabeu, it may be worth reflecting that too many did not appreciate his talent until it was too late.