"This is the first time you're going to hear me say this" - Troy Deeney rates 26-year-old Liverpool star as player of the weekend in Premier League

Former Watford attacker Troy Deeney has lauded Trent Alexander-Arnold for his performance during Liverpool's 4-1 win over Ipswich Town on Saturday, January 25.

Against Ipswich, Dominik Szoboszlai broke the deadlock in the 11th minute. Mohamed Salah doubled the Reds' lead (35'), while Cody Gapko made the score 3-0 in the 44th minute. Alexander-Arnold assisted Gapko for his second goal of the match (65'). However, Jacob Greaves scored one for Ipswich in the 90th minute, making the final score 4-1.

Alexander-Arnold maintained a passing accuracy of 83 percent and won five duels besides making one assist.

Impressed by the Englishman's performance, Troy Deeney billed the 26-year-old as the best player in the Premier League for the last weekend. Lauding Alexander-Arnold for the performance, football pundit Deeney wrote on BBC Sport:

"This is the first time you're going to hear me say this and probably the last. I was at the game and I would pay a huge amount of money to watch that. He was incredible; passing range, fitness, endeavour, defensive work as well as attacking work. He hit the bar. I thought he was excellent. Player of the weekend by a country mile."

The Englishman has made 30 appearances for the Reds this season, bagging two goals and seven assists across all competitions. Alexander-Arnold has also helped the side keep 14 clean sheets.

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Fabrizio Romano provides update about Liverpool star's future

Fabrizio Romano has claimed that Real Madrid are confident about signing Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold in the summer transfer window on a free transfer.

The Englishman has entered the last six months of his contract with the Reds and according to reports, the LaLiga giants have also contacted him over a potential future transfer.

On his official YouTube channel, Fabrizio Romano shared that Real Madrid are unlikely to make a move for the 26-year-old in January. Meanwhile, the Reds will try to convince the Englishman to sign an extension before his contract ends.

He said:

"The expectations since December is for nothing to happen in January, so I don't expect any move for Trent Alexander-Arnold. Real Madrid tried to approach Liverpool at the beginning of the window but they understood immediately that for Liverpool, it was not the case to negotiate 20, 25, 30 million."

He added:

"Real Madrid remain absolutely convinced and confident that they can bring Trent to the club in the summer on a free transfer. Liverpool never had an intention to negotiate that they want to try until the end so we will respect that and follow the situation."

Apart from Trent Alexander-Arnold, the contracts of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk will also expire at the end of the season.