Trent Alexander-Arnold joining Real Madrid in the near future now appears to be a matter of when rather than if.

The 26-year-old is reportedly close to agreeing a deal with Los Blancos as he nears the end of his Liverpool contract, with many Kopites left furious that their vice-captain – a boyhood Scouser, no less – is about to depart his hometown club on a free transfer in the prime of his career.

At present, he’ll technically remain an LFC player for three more months, but Ben Jacobs recently claimed that Carlo Ancelotti’s side could yet seek to fast-track his arrival so that he’d link up with them prior to the Club World Cup in mid-June.

Gorst: Liverpool could be open to terminating Trent’s contract early

Speaking on The Redmen TV, Paul Gorst suggested that Liverpool could allow Trent to terminate his current contract early if the club were to receive a compensation fee from Real Madrid.

The Liverpool Echo journalist said: “I think Liverpool would probably accept that to be fair, just to get something down on the books. 

“The difference of leaving on the 1st of June as opposed to the 30th of June is immaterial. Liverpool haven’t got any games then anyway. I guess it’s a case of how much do Real Madrid want him for the Club World Cup.”

Gorst added:“I imagine they would look to expedite it by a few weeks to get him in for that competition. I think they’ll be really keen to win that tournament… €10m, €5m, it’s a little bit of a guessing game at this stage. I think Liverpool would do it, though.”

Liverpool may as well get something out of Trent’s Madrid move

Although a compensation package of €5m-€10m (£4.2m-£8.4m) would still be nowhere near Trent’s market value, it’d be better than nothing for Liverpool if they were to receive such an amount from Real Madrid in order to terminate his contract in time for the Club World Cup.

As Gorst points out, it’d make no real difference to the Reds to let him leave earlier once we’ve played our final game of the season on 25 May, which is five weeks before his current deal ends, and it could actually suit all parties to fast-track his release.

He’d get an immediate chance to win his first trophy with Los Blancos, who’d have an excellent addition to their squad in time for FIFA’s new tournament, while the Merseyside club would at least have a small fee to add to their summer budget.

If LaLiga follows the Premier League in bringing forward their transfer window to the beginning of June in time for players to be signed ahead of the Club World Cup, there’s a distinct possibility that Real Madrid will push to fast-track Trent’s move.

Liverpool might as well try to gain something, no matter how miniscule, from seeing their vice-captain walk out the door in the next three months.

The post Paul Gorst: Liverpool might agree to expedite Trent’s move to Real Madrid on one condition appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk's losing streak continued on Wednesday.

Hours after Republicans in Wisconsin lost a state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin where Musk spent tens of millions of dollars of his own money, shares of his flagship electric car company fell upon news that it had badly missed Wall Street estimates for the number of vehicles it had delivered in the first quarter of 2025.

As reported by Market Watch, Tesla revealed that "it delivered more than 336,000 vehicles during the first quarter, down from 387,000 deliveries a year ago."

To put this number into context, Market Watch notes that it "was well below the average analyst estimate compiled by FactSet of 404,000 vehicles" and it "was also lower than the 'whisper' number, or what Wall Street was quietly expecting, with even the most bullish analyst projecting a number in the 360,000 range."

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Although Tesla blamed the disappointing deliveries on what Market Watch describes as "the changeover to refreshed Model Y production lines" that "led to several weeks of lost production," it's also a reality that the company has been the target of a concerted boycott campaign led by progressive groups to protest Musk's role as the head of President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency.

Sales of Tesla in Europe have fallen off a cliff in recent months, as car buyers on that continent have revolted against Musk's support for far-right political parties such as Germany's Alternative für Deutschland.