Liverpool launch Trent Alexander-Arnold charm offensive as new contract question emerges
If an attempted charm offensive, it was hardly the most subtle. But Liverpool were more than happy to embrace Trent Alexander-Arnold turning 26 on Monday morning.
The club's official social media feeds posted a stream of images of Alexander-Arnold in action for his boyhood club since breaking into the first team in 2017, and then later pointed out the right-back's impressive record of appearances, goals and, most notably, assists.
For a little context, when Alisson Becker turned 32 last Wednesday, the event wasn't particularly marked beyond the usual salutations.
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Of course, the goalkeeper - who is waiting to discover the extent of the hamstring damage he sustained at Crystal Palace on Saturday - isn't in the last 12 months of his Liverpool contract and, as things stand, able to talk to clubs from abroad at the start of January.
Alexander-Arnold is and can. And until his situation is resolved one way or another, any utterance from the player or action from the club will be forensically scrutinised.
It'll take a lot more than the public acknowledgement of his birthday to persuade the England international his future should remain at Anfield, particularly given he will potentially have his pick of suitors - European Super League advocates Real Madrid remain the most prominent - next summer.
Intriguing, then, the emergence of news that fellow Academy graduate Jarell Quansah and centre-back Ibrahima Konate are both in negotiations regarding improved long-term contracts.
Both are no-brainers, the 21-year-old Quansah having enjoyed a breakthrough season last term that put him on the brink of a place in England's squad for the European Championship while Konate, still only 25, has this term regained his regular starting role and is producing the most consistently impressive form of his Anfield career.
Neither deal, though, would appear a priority. Not that Liverpool should be criticised for addressing their contract situations this early, the current regime - with sporting director Richard Hughes the driving force - keen to avoid the predicament that has seen skipper Virgil van Dijk and top scorer Mohamed Salah join Alexander-Arnold in having their present deal run into a final year.
Liverpool remain in negotiations with representatives of the trio in an attempt to extend their current stays, while on the pitch all three players showing no signs of being distracted by the ongoing impasse. Indeed, each has appeared reinvigorated by the impact of new head coach Arne Slot, Van Dijk in particular playing arguably his best football since his serious knee injury three years ago.
Learning from past mistakes is always a positive, and the moves to tie up Quansah and Konate are of a club looking, if not to get their house in order, then certainly to fend off any imminent contract issues with key members of the squad.
It's evidence of the hard work from Hughes and the recruitment team behind the scenes. But, for most Liverpool supporters, the real issues are still to be properly addressed.