Richard Hughes just sealed an ALL-TIME great Liverpool deal

Liverpool and Richard Hughes just sealed one of the most impressive deals in their history. Truly incredible stuff from the club.

Liverpool rejected the advances of Real Madrid ahead of the January transfer window when Los Blancos wanted to sign Trent Alexander-Arnold.

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It was reported that the Spanish capital club were willing to pay up to £20 million to add the 26-year-old with concerns growing over Lucas Vazquez and Federico Valverde at right-back.

Richard Hughes held firm however - opting to keep Alexander-Arnold around in order to secure the Premier League title.

That decision was vindicated with Liverpool carrying off their 20th top-flight success but left the club in a predicament.

With Alexander-Arnold's contract expiring in summer 2025 - and no agreement over a renewal - they risked losing their homegrown hero for free.

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Trent Alexander-Arnold joins Real Madrid

Under different conditions, it’s not hard to imagine Alexander-Arnold being the most expensive right-back in history but these aren’t normal times.

Losing him for free felt like a slap in the face for some supporters but now FIFA have thrown the Reds an unexpected bonus.

Real Madrid are one of the participating teams in the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup.

Competing teams will benefit from an extra transfer window - opening on June 1 - in order to add to their squads before the games in the United States.

Such is Madrid’s desperation to land Alexander-Arnold in time for the tournament, they will PAY Liverpool a transfer fee in order to release Trent during the upcoming window.

Rather than wait until after June 30 - when they can have him for free - the Spaniards are hellbent on having him on board.

And Richard Hughes looks like he is playing his one perfectly. According to the Athletic, Liverpool have received €10 MILLION (£8.4m) for Alexander-Arnold by selling him to Madrid for the Club World Cup. The fact the Reds will not pay the remaining salary on his contract pushes that up to around £10m.

Given that the Scouser has been reported to earn £180k per week at Liverpool, that kind of transfer fee would mean the club have effectively had a free season of the England international - who earns just under £10m a year on those reported figures.

That £10m also comes in very handy in going towards a replacement for Alexander-Arnold.

It would reduce the initial outlay for Jeremie Frimpong of Bayer Leverkusen very significantly.

The Dutchman’s release clause is reported to be £35m.

In ideal circumstances Liverpool wouldn’t have lost Alexander-Arnold at all. But his mind was made up to leave - maybe as long ago as 2021 when he renewed his current deal.

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Getting any kind of money in for him right now can be deemed a success. And with Spanish media suggesting an insulting figure of €1m only a few weeks ago, getting more than 10x that money can go down as a Richard Hughes masterclass.