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Liverpool players holding up a "Champions" sign for head coach Arne Slot during a training at AXA Training Centre on May 16 2025(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

The Liverpool players simply couldn't resist.

Having watched Arne Slot go viral with his celebratory sojourn to Ibiza in midweek, the squad replicated the colourful greeting given to the Reds boss when they reconvened at the AXA Training Centre on Friday.

And as the group posed for a picture with the word "Champions" being held aloft, standing almost on the very edge of the shot was Trent Alexander-Arnold.

You can probably guess what happened next.

When the image was posted on social media, the discourse almost immediately became dominated by those wondering why the departing right-back was allowed to be on the photo, and those who believe such negativity is in danger of overshadowing the final phase of celebrating Liverpool's title triumph.

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If the players have largely got on this week with enjoying their richly-deserved status of Premier League winners, the fanbase has continued to struggle with the fallout from the reaction to Alexander-Arnold at Anfield against Arsenal last Sunday, the first game played since the 26-year-old confirmed he was leaving when his contract expires at the end of the season.

And just when it appeared the intensity of the debate may have been easing, along came comments from Mohamed Salah stating the abuse of the England international is "not how we act as Liverpool fans".

To be fair, Salah more than most has good reason to lament the exit of Alexander-Arnold, having spent almost the entirety of his outstanding Reds career playing down the right flank with his team-mate.

Those who jeered last weekend will never forgive Alexander-Arnold for what they claim is the manner in which he has engineered a free transfer to Real Madrid, while those who remained supportive of the team as a whole will never understand why, for whatever the reason, a current Liverpool player is targeted for boos during a game in which he is trying to help the Reds win.

The latter group will hope the point - which first began to become apparent at Leicester City last month, another afternoon which left a bitter taste for many Liverpool supporters present - has now been made by Alexander-Arnold's detractors.

Well, at least until, as fates will surely conspire in the coming years, the player comes up in opposition to the Reds.

Slot has not ruled out Alexander-Arnold featuring in either of the final two games of the season at Brighton on Monday or Crystal Palace the following Sunday, although the Reds boss will now be aware of what that could prompt.

It perhaps isn't worth the risk.

Regardless, there is no chance the player will be missing from either the trophy lift or the parade the following day, given he has contributed as much as the majority of the squad to the reason such events are happening in the first place.

How the Anfield crowd react when, as is bound to happen, Alexander-Arnold has his turn to hold aloft the trophy will therefore be intriguing, so too the response he receives when travelling with team-mates throughout the city on the open-top bus.

It would be easy for people to put their heads in the sand and hope this all goes away.
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