It was two years ago that Trent Alexander-Arnold sat down at Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre and made the admission that would signal the beginning of the end of his Anfield career.
During an interview with Sky Sports, the defender was asked which dream he would most like to realize: would he rather captain Liverpool, win another Champions League title, win a trophy with England, or win the Ballon d’Or? Surprisingly, he settled on the latter option.
“I believe I can,” Alexander-Arnold said. “I want to be the first full back to ever do it.”
In a world where footballers — whether sincerely or not — are often quick to downplay the importance of individual accolades versus team success, it was a bold choice. Six months later, Alexander-Arnold announced he would be leaving his boyhood club to join Real Madrid, who paid Liverpool €12 million so the right back would be available to feature at the FIFA Club World Cup ahead of his contract expiring that summer.
Madrid’s desire to expedite the start of Alexander-Arnold’s journey at the club was a reflection of how keen the Spanish giants were on his signing. Nearly 18 months on, though, and his career has stalled.
Across his time in Madrid so far, the 28-year-old has started just 18 out of a possible 50 LaLiga games. Injuries have played a part, as has the significant managerial churn at the Bernabeu, but it increasingly feels like the defender’s dream move is turning into a nightmare.
Jose Mourinho’s appointment as head coach in July has further complicated matters. Alexander-Arnold’s mercurial talents do not appear to align with the Portuguese’s footballing ethos and he has now fallen behind club captain and midfielder Federico Valverde and summer signing Denzel Dumfries in the pecking order at right back.
Inevitably, Alexander-Arnold’s misfortune in Madrid has led to speculation over his future and suggestions that a return to Liverpool could be on the cards in the near future. But would the England international still be a good fit at Anfield? Or would he be better placed fighting for his spot in Mourinho’s side?
The argument for bringing Trent back
Perhaps the most damning aspect of this saga is that the noise surrounding Alexander-Arnold’s future barely resonates in Madrid. His predicament is scarcely discussed — at least externally — because the player has done little to warrant many column inches in Spain, either for good reasons or bad.
This season, he has started five of 16 games in all competitions and has featured just once in the Champions League. In his four LaLiga starts, the highest caliber of opposition he has faced is eighth-placed Valencia and his only goal contribution this term has been an assist against bottom-of-the-table Malaga.
Instead, Dumfries — who joined Madrid in a €20 million move from Inter Milan in the summer — has started eight games, while Valverde has been preferred at right back in recent weeks. The Uruguay international’s performance in the 3-0 victory over Valencia at the weekend was so impressive that Spanish newspaper Marca awarded him a 9/10 in their player ratings and described him as “the best right back in the world.”
“I felt we needed to change our midfield and play Fede in that position,” Mourinho said in a news conference earlier this month. “It was a decision made for the team, not based on individual players. Trent and Dumfries accepted my explanations well. They understood that this choice was made in the interest of the collective and was not aimed at anyone.”
Still, while Alexander-Arnold may be content to accept Mourinho’s decision in the short-term, it is hard to imagine he will do so indefinitely. There can be no escaping the fact his considerable talents would be better utilized at Liverpool, who continue to miss his ingenuity at right back.
Chance creation was a major problem under Arne Slot last season, with the Reds’ final tally of 63 Premier League goals their lowest in the competition since 2015-16. While Liverpool’s expensively-assembled attack have shown flickers of promise this term, there remains a lack of consistency when it comes to generating opportunities in front of goal.
Andoni Iraola’s side have created just 17 big chances (as defined by Opta) in the top flight this season, with only newly-promoted duo Hull City and Coventry City having created fewer.
Alexander-Arnold redefined the right-back role at Liverpool after breaking into the first team under Jurgen Klopp and left Anfield having registered 64 assists in 259 Premier League appearances — the most by a defender in a competition’s history. While chance creation under Iraola largely falls to his wingers and No. 10 midfielder, it is not hard to see how Alexander-Arnold could add another dimension to the team. Picture the defender delivering one of his pinpoint crosses into the box for striker Alexander Isak to attack, for example.
It also can’t be denied that right back has been a problem position for Liverpool since Alexander-Arnold’s exit. His expected successor, Conor Bradley, has been sidelined since January with a serious knee injury, while Jeremie Frimpong has struggled for both form and fitness since arriving from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2025.
Barcelona loanee Ronald Araujo has been a revelation this season, adding some much-needed steel to Iraola’s back line. But, having spent most of his career as a central defender, his presence on the right is not particularly conducive in helping to build attacks from the back.
For Alexander-Arnold, meanwhile, a return to Merseyside would offer the chance to reignite his career in an environment where he has previously thrived. That is an opportunity that could be enticing, particularly considering there is a home European Championship on the horizon in 2028 and the next year is likely to be decisive in shaping Thomas Tuchel’s England squad for the tournament.
Of course, accepting Alexander-Arnold back into the fold would not be a universally popular move within the fanbase. The defender was booed by sections of the Anfield crowd after announcing his impending departure in May 2025 and was given a similarly hostile reception when he returned for a Champions League clash with Madrid that same Autumn.
For some supporters, Alexander-Arnold’s decision to leave the club that nurtured him for 20 years felt like a betrayal. However, football fandom is often fickle and, if the England international was able to contribute to success on the pitch, it would likely diminish any lingering opposition off it.
“I’d have him back,” former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher said on the Overlap Fan Debate last month. “I think he made a big mistake [leaving]. But if something benefits Liverpool Football Club going forward, when you think of the problems Liverpool have in terms of the right back … Ronnie [Araujo] has been fantastic but we do have a problem in terms of full backs passing. We’ve definitely missed his creativity.”
Meanwhile, former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard said on The Overlap Daily last week: “Ability-wise, talent-wise, yes [I’d take him back at Liverpool]. The decision he made, and all the stuff around it, do I think it’d be the right thing for Liverpool’s group now and the supporters? I’m going to sit on the fence and say I’m unsure.”
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The argument against bringing Trent back
The biggest obstacle to Alexander-Arnold’s hypothetical Liverpool return is that both parties would almost certainly have reservations.
The defender signed a six-year contract with Madrid and so any exit — either in January or next summer — would come with a significant financial commitment from any potential suitor. Having received only a small fee for a player who came through their academy and who rejected several lucrative contract offers, it seems highly unlikely Liverpool would part with big money to facilitate his return.
Then, there is his age profile and injury record to consider. At 28, Alexander-Arnold should be at the peak of his powers but, even when he has played at Madrid, he has not looked like the same player who dazzled in the Premier League and in Europe for more than a decade.
Even before he left Liverpool, his injury record was beginning to look concerning. Across his final two seasons at the club, he suffered six separate injuries, missing 34 games in the process.
That worrying trajectory continued in his first season at Madrid, when three separate muscle injuries ruled him out of 24 games for club and country. Perhaps Alexander-Arnold has simply been unlucky in recent years however it is hard not to wonder whether years of playing intense football under Klopp has started to take its toll.
There is also a question of if Alexander-Arnold is culturally the right fit for this current Liverpool squad.
“If Trent does come back to Liverpool one day I think it would be much better for supporters and him that he does so having had success,” John Gibbons of The Anfield Wrap told ESPN. “I think it needs to be a positive decision to return rather than a fall back to what he knows. I think fans would think he was only here because it hadn’t worked out and I think it would be tough for him to return a failure too. That’s why I don’t think it’s right now.
“If he could have success somewhere and say: ‘No, I want to go back to Liverpool’. I think it would be seen much differently.”
When Alexander-Arnold left Liverpool, he did so as vice-captain and one of the most senior players in the dressing room. If he were to return, it is hard to know where exactly he would fit into the new hierarchy. There is a risk that bringing him back could be destabilizing for a group that is still finding its feet under Iraola.
And, while many fans could be won over, they would arguably be less likely to overlook the defensive deficiencies in Alexander-Arnold’s game. Liverpool supporters were the player’s staunchest advocates in the face of the relentless scrutiny his defending came under from rival fans and some sections of the media. But, with so much goodwill lost, would they be prepared to overlook any failings as readily? Not likely.
From Alexander-Arnold’s perspective, such a premature return to England could be considered an admission of failure. Having burnt so many bridges to secure his dream move, it would require a significant level of humility to admit that things haven’t worked out as planned.
Alexander-Arnold’s transfer to Madrid saw him rebranded under the mononym “Trent” — primarily to make his name more digestible for a new global fanbase but also as a way of bolstering his personal image. On Merseyside, there was a sense that Alexander-Arnold was drawn to Madrid not just because of their status on the pitch but also because of the fact they have cultivated the strongest brand in football. A return to Liverpool would require an adjustment.
There is also an argument that Madrid are currently better placed for success than Liverpool. The Reds’ fortunes have dipped since Alexander-Arnold walked out the door as a Premier League champion in 2025 and they currently sit fourth in the table, nine points adrift of leaders Arsenal.
Madrid, on the other hand, are only three points off top spot in LaLiga and can never be counted out in the Champions League. Having won everything there is to win in England, Alexander-Arnold could be forgiven for wanting to burnish his CV with a few more trophies.
He also remains under contract at the Bernabeu until 2031. In that context, it is still relatively early in his Real Madrid career and he certainly has the talent to excel in Spain, should he be given the opportunity to really assert himself.
Whether that opportunity will arise, though, is another matter. Ultimately, it feels like a very long time ago that Alexander-Arnold spoke about his hopes of winning the Ballon d’Or. If something does not change soon, it could prove to be one of many dreams that he does not fulfil.
