Well, Liverpool fans may yet get what they want after all. Trent Alexander-Arnold announced earlier this month that he is leaving the club at the end of the season. All of the rumors suggest he will sign for Real Madrid on a bumper free agent deal that will see him spend his best years in the Spanish capital.
This is standard practice in football: good player leaves very good club to join Los Blancos. It's just what the evil empire does.
It prompted vitriol amongst local supporters. How could Alexander-Arnold do this? Does he not know that he must consider each and every normal human being before making a decision based entirely on his development as an athlete? WHAT ABOUT US?
The boos followed, as did the general sentiment that Alexander-Arnold should have at least guaranteed that the club will make a few bucks from him leaving. Jamie Carragher went on TV and suggested that a cool $20 million should heal some of the open wounds.
That sentiment sounded absurd at the time, but Carragher might get his wish. A preliminary transfer window, open from June 1-June 10 ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup, will allow participating teams to register players that might otherwise arrive in July. In effect, they can get their summer business done early under the guise of bolstering their squads for the tournament.
Liverpool could stand to benefit - they hold the cards here and could ask for a bit of cash to let their star right back go before he really should.
But the broader picture is markedly less fair. Instead, the window allows clubs that should otherwise go into the tournament with an authentic reflection of their squads to retool and build. It stifles the integrity of competition, and further highlights how this expanded version of the Club World Cup - marketed extensively as it is, and to be hosted in the U.S. - has been hastily thrown together.