On Facebook
On Flipboard
On Twitter
Liverpool are undeniably the best club in the world at the moment, with their sights firmly set on an extraordinary quadruple. Their recent victory over Southampton has further solidified their dominance, placing them comfortably atop the Premier League table, eight points clear of Manchester City. However, despite their glowing form, a significant concern lingers— the contracts of three key superstars are set to expire at the end of the season.
Liverpool’s vice-captain is at the heart of growing transfer speculation, with Real Madrid reportedly pushing him to make a decision soon. His contract expires next summer, which would allow him to sign a pre-contract with foreign clubs as early as January 1. This looming deadline has sparked concern among Liverpool fans, particularly as the 26-year-old continues to be linked with a move to the Spanish giants.
Pundit urges TAA to make the decision quick
Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol explained that Real Madrid’s interest in Alexander-Arnold may not be permanent, as the Spanish giants are always exploring alternatives, especially with Dani Carvajal out for the season and Vazquez rarely impressing at right-back. “If they want you, it’s now or never,” Solhekol said, highlighting the appeal of the world’s most successful football club.
Despite the ongoing uncertainty, Liverpool remains confident. Reports from TeamTalk indicate the club is prepared to offer Alexander-Arnold a record-breaking contract worth over £400,000 per week, making him the Premier League’s highest-paid player. This move would demonstrate the club’s commitment to keeping him.
Alexander-Arnold himself has spoken highly of Liverpool’s new manager, Arne Slot, praising his attention to detail and crediting him for helping improve his game, Playing under the new coach and solidifying his legacy as a club legend must be high on the Scouser’s bucket list, and this ambition could be the key factor in preventing him from leaving Liverpool.
As Liverpool continue their strong start to the season, club officials are optimistic that the momentum will lead to a contract extension for Alexander-Arnold before Christmas. While Real Madrid’s interest remains a factor, the ball is now in the player’s half.
More must-reads:
- Liverpool preparing for departures amid ambitious Alexander Isak pursuit
- Braves to place star player on 10-day IL
- The 'NFL stadium names' quiz
Breaking News
Trending News
TODAY'S BEST
Fabrizio Romano drops overnight transfer update with huge implications for Liverpool & Isak deal
Liverpool eye new transfer bid after securing Alexander Isak ‘agreement’
Liverpool are understood to have secured an ‘agreement in principle’ with Alexander Isak over a summer transfer. The Merseysiders are reportedly hellbent on signing the Swede following the addition of Eintracht Frankfurt forward Hugo Ekitike. It remains to be seen whether Newcastle would be open to selling their top asset in the current window. Should the Reds get a clear green light, it’s expected that a British transfer record will be required to prise Isak out of St James’ Park. Liverpool have agreement with Alexander Isak in place It’s one thing to have personal terms boxed off and quite another to have the club in question’s permission to get the deal over the line. From the looks of things, we’re quite a way off that point being settled this summer. The Magpies, rather understandably, aren’t keen to see their most valuable star shipped off to the Premier League champions. Yet, they’re also forced to contend with the unpleasant reality of forcing Isak to stay put – at least until they can secure his potential successor in Sesko. In the meantime, Liverpool allegedly have everything behind the scenes ready to go. Nicolo Schira reports on X (formerly Twitter) that the club is ready to file a fresh bid after having secured personal terms. Is this Newcastle’s best chance to secure financial freedom? Newcastle, to be absolutely clear, are entirely within their own rights to urge Liverpool, and any prospective suitor, to take a hike when it comes to Isak. That said, at some point, objective decision-making has to be factored into this decision. As things currently stand, the Magpies’ transfer efforts this summer have been far from optimal, and they’re facing a Champions League campaign without having made significant changes to the squad. Don’t get us wrong – Anthony Elanga is a cracking signing. However, do Newcastle fans seriously feel as if the former Nottingham Forest star is going to make the difference when it comes to making a splash in Europe and holding on to a Champions League place domestically? Eddie Howe’s men need bodies – and quality bodies! Eddie Howe has admitted Newcastle are struggling on price The Newcastle head coach has already made it plainly clear that the club is struggling to bring in players within their price-range. “We have to bring the right type of player in. We should in no way act out of character, and work how we always have in the window,” the Englishman was quoted by Chronicle Live. “That is in a strategic way. If the right player is not available to us for the right price, then we can’t do the deals. “Everything has to fall in line. We are looking to add depth and quality to the areas that we have identified, fingers crossed we can get deals done.” Now, that’s a perfectly sound strategy early on in the window when you’ve time to adapt. But we’re now two days away from August, and Newcastle just haven’t sufficiently prepared their squad for the season ahead. Whilst it might be hard for decision-makers at the club to hear, they may need to spend over the odds to sufficiently bolster their squad this summer. In that case, they’ll need cash – the kind of cash selling a top asset like Alexander Isak would provide.
NFL analyst says teams should be 'extremely scared' of this franchise in 2025
While the Philadelphia Eagles, Detroit Lions and Washington Commanders have garnered a lot of attention lately, there is one NFC team that has quietly been flying under the radar. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost a one-score game to the Lions in the divisional round in 2023 and followed that up with another one-score loss to QB Jayden Daniels and the Commanders last season, proving how close they have been to the ultimate prize in the two seasons with Baker Mayfield under center. In an appearance on ESPN's "Get Up" Tuesday morning, analyst and former player Ryan Clark offered high praise for Mayfield and what the Buccaneers are capable of. "Baker Mayfield is a top-10 quarterback in this league," Clark said. "Baker Mayfield is a football player. And when I say that, I know people at home are gonna be like, 'Duh, he gets paid to play football.' No, not all quarterbacks are seen as football players. Not all quarterbacks are embraced in the locker room as one of us." Clark sees the Buccaneers as a team the rest of the league should be paying attention to because of who they have returning and the close calls in the playoffs the last two seasons. "This is a team that's been on the cusp the last two years," Clark said. "Now you think about some of the pieces they've added, the confidence in their quarterback and the way that he plays, and Todd Bowles with another year to understand winning at a high level at the head coach position. This is a team you better be extremely scared of because they're stacked and they're confident." Mayfield has been sensational during his time with the Buccaneers. Although he did throw 16 interceptions, Mayfield accounted for the third-most passing yards (4,500) in the league last season and has thrown the most TD passes (69) in the last two seasons, per StatMuse. To add even more incentive for Mayfield, the team restructured his contract, which is set to expire after the 2026 season, to include $30M in guaranteed salary for that season. The Buccaneers return a lot of production on both sides of the ball, in addition to bringing in first-round draft pick Emeka Egbuka, who topped 1,000 receiving yards twice at Ohio State and accounted for 26 total TDs. While Tampa Bay allowed the 17th-most points per game (22.7) last season, it returns the majority of its defensive production. On top of that, the offseason acquisition of veteran LB and two-time Pro-Bowler Haason Reddick, who agreed to terms on a one-year deal, should be a welcomed addition for a franchise that had some question marks on defense last season. The Buccaneers are projected to have the sixth-easiest schedule in the NFL this season and have the best chance to win the NFC South for the fifth consecutive season, according to ESPN Analytics. If Mayfield can cut back on his turnovers and the defense can create more pressure on opposing QBs, the Buccaneers could be a threat in the NFC once again as they look to put their recent nail-biting losses in the postseason behind them.
Commanders reportedly hesitant about one issue with Terry McLaurin deal
The 2024 offseason expanded the $30M-per-year wide receiver club to six members. D.K. Metcalf, Ja’Marr Chase and Garrett Wilson have taken it to nine this year. Terry McLaurin is undoubtedly pushing to bump that number to 10, after seeing 2019 Day 2 classmates Metcalf and A.J. Brown land among that contingent. McLaurin reported to training camp Sunday and landed on the active/PUP list. As our Rory Parks explained, skepticism exists about how injured the Commanders’ top wide receiver really is. An ankle injury has keyed the PUP stay, but it can be safely assumed McLaurin would be ready to practice if an extension comes to pass. Nevertheless, the Commanders have been surprised by the difficulty of these talks. Using an injury to avoid practicing while negotiating — developments the Jonathan Taylor and Micah Parsons sagas brought — represents a third tactic, joining the holdout and the increasingly utilized hold-in amid extension talks. McLaurin shifted from a holdout to the injury route; no matter how he is accomplishing not practicing, the seventh-year veteran is aiming to land a lucrative third contract. His age provides a complication for Washington. McLaurin is going into an age-30 season, separating him from Brown and Metcalf. Both Ole Miss products were drafted just before McLaurin, a 2019 third-round pick, but they are each two years younger. This strengthened their cases for big-ticket third contracts. McLaurin went first to ignite the second-tier boom on the receiver market in 2022, agreeing to a three-year, $69.6M extension. That shaped the Metcalf and Deebo Samuel extensions, both of which coming in higher than McLaurin’s despite the latter’s consistency with suboptimal quarterback situations. McLaurin’s AAV has dropped to 17th at wide receiver. The Commanders are prepared to extend their top wideout, but Sportskeeda.com’s Tony Pauline indicates the "holdup" is regarding the $30M-AAV number. Some around the league point to the team not wanting to go into that neighborhood for McLaurin, despite his five 1,000-yard seasons. Courtland Sutton and McLaurin are nearly the same age, and the Broncos’ top target signed a four-year, $92M extension. That matches where the Titans went for Calvin Ridley (now 30) in 2024. McLaurin, though, has a better resume than both and should be aiming higher. The Commanders have a Jayden Daniels rookie contract to structure another McLaurin extension around as well. Adam Peters was around for the 49ers’ 2022 Samuel extension but not Brandon Aiyuk‘s $30M-per-year deal. (The Samuel extension also did not work out for the 49ers, who proceeded with a salary dump of sorts by trading him to the Commanders.) The second-year GM taking a hardline stance with McLaurin would be an interesting route given the WR’s importance to a sudden contender. Peters confirmed talks are ongoing, with that comment coming after McLaurin expressed frustration about the negotiations. A potential gap between the pack of 20-somethings (and Tyreek Hill) north of $30M AAV and the Tee Higgins–Jaylen Waddle–D.J. Moore tier could be relevant here, and it will be interesting to see if McLaurin settles for something just south of that $30MM benchmark. Guarantees and contract structure, of course, will be important to determining the value as well. A short-term extension should be reached soon, per Pauline, but if the Commanders hold the line at or around $30M, the McLaurin matter could drag on for a while longer.
Mets’ Juan Soto breaks silence on concerning injury after blowout loss to Padres
The New York Mets, despite plenty of ups and downs, have been one of the best teams in all of Major League Baseball so far this season, but they know they will need to stay healthy in order to stay at the top of the NL East and make a push for a World Series. On Tuesday night, the Mets suffered a significant injury. During the fourth inning of a critical series against the San Diego Padres, star outfielder Juan Soto fouled a ball off of his foot and was pulled from the game with a foot contusion. After the game, Soto gave an optimistic update on the status of his foot, via SNY. “I think it’s gonna be good,” Soto said. “I think it’s gonna be good. We’ve just got to get the swelling down. Whenever the swelling is down, I think we’re gonna be fine. X-rays are negative, so it’s a good sign. We’ve just got to wait for the swelling to come down and go back to where I’m at.” Soto also addressed his pain level after the game, after appearing to be in a world of hurt when he went down on the field originally. “It’s actually numb,” he said. “I don’t feel anything right now. It’s getting a little stiff but we’re gonna see in the morning how it goes.” Soto has been finding his stride of late for the Mets after some rocky moments earlier in the season, so New York will want to have him back in the lineup as soon as he can possibly get out there. For the season coming into Tuesday, Soto had racked up 25 home runs and 62 RBI. He was hitting just .249, but was still an on-base machine with an MLB-leading 84 walks. The Padres went on to beat the Mets very comfortably in a 7-1 blowout on Tuesday night, but New York still sits in the top spot in the NL East by a half-game over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets and Phillies are two of the best teams in baseball, so the health of a player like Soto can go a long way toward deciding who comes out on top.
Customize Your Newsletter
+
Get the latest news and rumors, customized to your favorite sports and teams. Emailed daily. Always free!
PRIVACY POLICY EDITORIAL POLICY CONTACT US
ABOUT YARDBARKER TERMS OF SERVICE
Use of this website (including any and all parts and
components) constitutes your acceptance of these
Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
This site is for entertainment purposes only.
There is no gambling offered on this site.
Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-Gambler.
