As of yesterday, Real Madrid can speak to Trent Alexander-Arnold with impunity. His Liverpool deal has entered its final six months. Regulations allow a player in that contractual position to negotiate with foreign clubs, with a view to joining them as a free agent in the summer.
On that basis, it went without saying that he and Real would be talking. Real covet Alexander-Arnold, and the Bernabeu is his obvious moveif he and Liverpool fail to agree a contract extension. But the transparent interest in him from Spain did not forewarn Liverpool of a more immediate bid to sign him.
On New Year's Eve, Real approached Liverpool to ask if they might sell Alexander-Arnold in this January window. Liverpool, flatly, said no. They are top of the Premier League. Alexander-Arnold is an integral part of their line-up. They might have to contend with losing the right-back further down the line, but that is a worry for another day.
Real knew all of that. There was zero chance of Liverpool being receptive to a mid-season offer, and Alexander-Arnold's move to La Liga -- assuming he plumps for it -- was always going to wait until the summer. So why did Real bother with an enquiry? And what's really going on here?
In Madrid, perhaps they felt it was worth a go. If Alexander-Arnold chooses not to renew his deal at Anfield, this is the last juncture at which Liverpool can earn a fee for him. The defender would depart for nothing in the summer -- and unlike Mohamed Salah or Virgil van Dijk, whose contracts are also running out, he is 100 per cent in his prime at 26.
On top of that, Real's defence needs reinforcing. Alexander-Arnold is one of Europe's top full-backs and would make a big difference to the second half of their season. He can assist like the best of them too (above). But no amount of money was going to tempt Liverpool to let him go now. Their lead in the Premier League stands at six points after Arsenal's 3-1 win at Brentford last night. They also have a game in hand. The title is on.
If they win it, it will be easier to make peace with the harsh reality of Alexander-Arnold exiting on a free. Real's millions would be scant consolation for a 20th domestic championship title slipping away. Standing firm was the only rational response.
As for Alexander-Arnold, Real have helped him with his future PR. Assuming he goes at the end of the season -- and that, frankly, is the logical end-game -- then he can point out that the opportunity was there for Liverpool to cash in on him before his deal ran out. Free agency maximises his earning potential in talks with Real. In this scenario, he can't really lose.
In the meantime, be sure that dialogue between him and Real is quietly ongoing. The Spanish giants didn't need to make contact with Liverpool on Tuesday. It was a bit of a charade and part of the process of getting their man, which Real usually do. Think of it as the dance.
I'm wary of over-egging the chat about Manchester United and relegation. It's not going to happen. You know it, I know it and so does Ruben Amorim.
But Amorim refusing to rule it out after Monday's defeat to Newcastle United means the subject is fair game, and there's a bigger picture to Phil Buckingham's piece on the consequences of dropping out of the Premier League: namely, the brutal impact of relegation on any club.
To an extent, it's nothing new. Financial disparity has long existed between the Premier League and the Championship but it gets wider by the year, and the hits for a side like United on doomsday would be endless: steep drops in TV revenue, a potential 50 per cent cut in earnings from kit manufacturer Adidas and so much more besides.
By far the biggest problem is the burden of a team's wage bill. Clubs in the Premier League who fear the drop tend to insert relegation clauses in player contracts, designed to automatically lower salaries. United are unlikely to have bothered with those and at the last count, wages were costing them £365m ($457m) annually. So from their perspective, while it won't happen, it simply can't either.
A quick quiz question: which stellar midfielder was once nicknamed 'The girl from The Exorcist'?
The answer is former Barca ninja Xavi, on account of the fact that when he played, his head would sometimes turn more than 500 times a match. They call this scanning -- the art of monitoring the pitch split-second by split-second, for maximum awareness of what's around you.
It's a trick that goes unnoticed by many, but certain footballers are masters of it. Lionel Messi scans the field around him constantly, much like Xavi used to. Ex-Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard was almost the market leader for it, taking little glances as often as six times in the 10 seconds before the ball came to him.
The point of scanning, as Stuart James explains, is to plan your next move in advance, pre-empting possession arriving at your feet. Messi and co are like chess players in that respect (minus any controversy over denim trousers). Those deadly passes they pull off for fun? None of them occur by chance. They come from being one step ahead, always.