And so the fight for Trent Alexander-Arnold has started in earnest. As the first day of the New Year approaches, with the prospect of one of the best players in the game about to be able to sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club, it was always going to be that way.
It is a culture war and a propaganda war. It is a battle to avoid blame. It is a struggle to preserve allegiances and restate tribal loyalties while also exercising the right to freedom of movement and the embrace of a new challenge.