Arne Slot responds to Trent Alexander-Arnold's Liverpool celebration message amid Real Madrid rumours

Arne Slot has responded to Trent Alexander-Arnold's celebration after Liverpool defeated West Ham 5-0 in the Premier League.

The Reds stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to 23 games with the victory, which saw five different players get on the scoresheet.

Alexander-Arnold was one of those scorers, making it 4-0 in the second half with a deflected effort from 22 yards after goals from Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah.

Diogo Jota then put further gloss on the scoreline in injury time, with West Ham suffering another heavy defeat at the London Stadium after their 5-2 loss to Arsenal earlier in December.

Liverpool are now eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table ahead of Nottingham Forest, who have played a game more than the Reds. Arsenal, who have played the same amount of games as Slot's side, are nine points back in third and travel to Brentford on New Year's Day.

The only negative for Reds fans over the festive period has surrounded reports over the future of Trent Alexander-Arnold who is out of contract in the summer.

Spanish outlets Marca and AS report that he has told Liverpool he wants to join Real Madrid next season, though the Liverpool Echo claim that is not the case.

After scoring his goal against West Ham, Alexander-Arnold celebrated by making a 'talking' motion with his hand - appearing to respond to media speculation.

Trent Alexander-Arnold celebrates his goal in Liverpool's 5-0 win over West Ham (Image: Getty)

When asked about the celebration after the game, Slot said: "I don't think it's negative at all. He scored a great goal, the way he celebrated that goal tells you enough. I don't think I have to say much more about it.

"I'm really happy with Trent, just as happy as I am with Mo and Virgil [van Dijk], so for me there's no difference. Maybe in the outside world but I'm happy with all three.

"People will be talking more about it, not only about these three, but also about other players. It's always a month [January] where players can make a transfer.

"So it won't just be about those three, but it will also be about the players we could bring in or ones who could also leave. That's always the thing with the summer and January."