Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has said he is not affected by speculation over Trent Alexander-Arnold’s future amid reports the defender is closing in on a move to Real Madrid.

Alexander-Arnold — alongside teammates Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk — is out of contract at Anfield this summer.

Last week, a source told ESPN that Madrid are “very optimistic” of signing the 26-year-old on a free transfer, though a Liverpool source told ESPN that no deal has yet been finalised.

In a news conference on Tuesday, Slot refused to be drawn on the rumours, and said Alexander-Arnold is focused on working his way back from injury.

“His situation is unfortunately that he’s injured, otherwise people probably would have spoken about him having one or two brilliant performances for the England team,” Slot said. “But he’s injured and for him, that means he is fully focused on his recovery.

“For us, that means we’re trying to help him to be back as soon as he can. For eight months, it went a bit up and down with all kind of talk about him, Virgil and Mo, but we’ve never been focused on those talks. We’ve always been focused on what to do.That for Virgil and Mo is trying to win the Merseyside derby. For Trent it is making sure he is fit as soon as he can be.”

Slot added: “It’s a situation that’s been there for eight or nine months now. All three players have performed so well under the circumstances. It doesn’t affect me at all.”