Trent Alexander-Arnold gesture revealed to reflect Liverpool legacy

Virgil van Dijk believes Trent Alexander-Arnold will always be remembered for his exploits in a Liverpool shirt if he decides to leave.

Vice-captain Alexander-Arnold is out of contract in the summer and, unlike Van Dijk and Mohamed Salah, has not put pen to paper on a new deal, amid an expectation he will join Real Madrid.

But the right-back came off the bench to score a winner at Leicester on Sunday to give Liverpool a 13-point lead at the top of the table, which Van Dijk said is beyond “my wildest dreams”.

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Alexander-Arnold’s subsequent passionate celebration showed how much his goal meant to him and Van Dijk is confident that, amid the potential controversy of a departure, his achievements over 350 games for the club will not be forgotten.

He said: “Whatever may happen in the future for him, that's something that he has to resolve with himself and the family.

“But he's a Liverpool player at this point and he's important for our team. He has been important throughout the whole season.

“And since I've joined the club, he has been a fantastic, fantastic player and there's a lot of good things that he will always be remembered for if he decides to leave. But listen, at this point we don't know as a group what's going to happen.”

Alexander-Arnold is set to win a second Premier League with his hometown club to add to a haul that includes the Champions League, the Club World Cup, the FA Cup and two League Cups.

He took his shirt off in his celebration at Leicester and Van Dijk said: "I think we forget that we are dealing with a human being.

“Sometimes he goes through so many moments in the last couple of months and everyone will have an opinion on the way he’s obviously been.”

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After the final whistle, Van Dijk nudged Alexander-Arnold forward of the rest of the team to take the acclaim of the travelling Liverpool fans.

And he explained: “There's a lot of noise around him and obviously everyone can argue if it’s his own fault, it’s just part of life nowadays.

“So when he scores a big goal like that, I think he deserves applause for stepping up in that particular moment and to soak it all in because whether he stays or leaves, these are moments which you shouldn't take for granted.”

Liverpool now only need three points to become champions and Van Dijk said: “To be 13 points clear at this stage of the season, I think that's even past my wildest dreams.”