Trent Alexander Arnold will almost certainly be Real Madrid's first signing of the season, unless anything unforeseen occurs at the last minute.
Los Blancos have expressed a desire to sign the newcomer as soon as possible and for him to compete in the Club World Cup wearing the white shirt. However, they need Liverpool's agreement to grab the player a month before his contract expires.
According to Diario AS, Real Madrid have got permission from the Merseyside club to allow Trent to participate in the Club World Cup for them, but there are two conditions.
One of the stipulations is that Trent has to give up his last month's salary from Liverpool in order to join Madrid a month early. This amount is just a bit more than 900,000 euros under the 11 million euro annual package he is on with Liverpool.
And to get the player a month before his contract expires, Madrid will have to pay Liverpool a transfer fee of less than a million euros. These are the two conditions put on the table.
The ball is in Real Madrid's park now
Now it is up to Los Blancos to decide if they will accept the requests. Both demands will only help Liverpool financially, but they are not particularly significant.
Trent will be able to reclaim his final month's wages from Real Madrid when they pay him an extra month for signing early. That cost, in particular, might be significant depending on the compensation package they envision for the right-back.
To be honest, the price they must pay Liverpool is not prohibitively expensive. And one must admit that the English club's plan is both ingenious and affordable. They know the player is out for good and are now focused on the money part of the matter.
Trent is going to leave them for free anyhow, so why not recover something?