Trent Alexander-Arnold has been tipped with a potential return to former club Liverpool in the summer.
Robin Bairner at Football Transfers (relaying a claim from TEAMtalk) reports that the Merseyside giants are among a number of Premier League outfits tracking the Scouser’s situation in the Spanish capital.
This comes with the right-back struggling for frequent minutes under new boss Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid.
Is Trent Alexander-Arnold struggling at Real Madrid?
From Los Blancos’ opening eight games in all competitions, Alexander-Arnold has featured five times (three starts), been an unused substitute in three games, and played out of position once. In that period of time, he’s picked up 292 minutes out of a possible 720.
So, just above a third of the minutes on offer in the 2026/27 season thus far. It’s early doors under Mourinho, of course, but it very much seems that summer signing Denzel Dumfries is the Portuguese head coach’s favoured operator in the position (racking up 505 minutes so far).
Perhaps things could change over the course of the season, but if you’re Trent’s agent, you’re surely going to be a little bit concerned that your client’s playing minutes have more or less halved from the 2024/25 campaign (3,479) to 2025/26 (1,794), and now they’re trending in a similar direction in 20267. By our estimations, assuming Real Madrid play the exact same number of games (56) as they did last term, the 27-year-old would rack up 2,043.99 minutes out of a possible 5,040 minutes (not allowing for extra time). A small improvement on 2025/26, but not exactly indicative of Trent being a key cog in the Madrid machine.
Why Alexander-Arnold could find himself back at Liverpool next summer
Listen, we’re not going to sit here and pretend that the fullback’s potential return wouldn’t be fraught with complexities:
- Would Real Madrid seriously consider selling in the summer of 2027? And for a price Liverpool would find acceptable?
- Are Liverpool as genuinely interested as has been claimed?
- Would the player even want a return to Anfield after a significant proportion fans made it plainly clear how upset they were with the nature of Trent’s exit?
- Would he be a smooth fit in Andoni Iraola’s first XI and squad?
- What does it mean for Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong?
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s exit felt anything but transparent; a number of Liverpool fans, quite understandably, felt spurned. Betrayed. A collective feeling that culminated in the right-back’s mural, near Anfield, being defaced on multiple occasions, including when the defender returned to L4 with Real Madrid for a Champions League tie.
On the other hand, it’s worth reminding ourselves that this is still an absolute unicorn of a footballer, a generation-defining fullback. A man who formed a key part of the golden era under Jurgen Klopp and helped lift two Premier League titles under separate managers.
| Trent Alexander-Arnold’s stats for 2026/27 (per 90) | Percentiles |
| 0.34 xA | 97th |
| 6.34 accurate long balls | 100th |
| 2.54 chances created | 100th |
| 0.42 big chances created | 90th |
| 3.38 successful crosses | 97th |
| 87.5% duels won | 100th |
| 2.96 interceptions | 97th |
| 5.49 recoveries | 85th |
| 0.42 dribbled past | 83rd |
* Trent Alexander-Arnold’s underlying numbers for Real Madrid in the 2026/27 La Liga season (Fotmob)
Who’s to say that an eventual return to Anfield, where he might remind fans of his unbelievable quality on the ball, wouldn’t help wounds heal over?
The case for a Premier League return
From Liverpool’s perspective, and assuming they don’t look to shore up the position in January, they need right-back reinforcements in one of the next two windows.
Judging by the rationale from the summer, in which the club didn’t add either a right-back or a striker to the squad – despite long-term injuries to both Conor Bradley and Hugo Ekitike – we have to assume that the club is operating under the presumption that both players are viewed as key assets for the long-term.
We think Liverpool are looking a little short in both areas as things currently stand (a situation recently exacerbated by Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo’s injuries during the international break), but fine, we can understand that logic.
The question now, as far as the right-back spot is concerned, is how Liverpool plan to move forward with an evidently injury-prone star in Bradley and a backup right-back in Frimpong who hasn’t made the position his own (to such an extent that loan signing Ronald Araujo has been tasked with playing out of position).
It feels like the club needs to make a signing between January and the end of the next summer transfer window. And we’re of the mind that it’ll probably be someone who won’t block Conor’s (23) pathway long-term but will allow him to be rested and developed at a pace that suits the player, Andoni Iraola and the coaching staff. On that basis, you’re looking at a more experienced operator; and in Alexander-Arnold, you’ll be getting that with a player who turns 28 this season (and 29 next October). Five years or so between Bradley and Trent feels somewhat ideal.
The question then, of course, is at what price point Liverpool could look to secure their former vice-captain. This may prove the most obstructive element, but from Madrid’s perspective, they’ll be making a tidy profit on a player they signed for €10m [£8.5m] (to release him early from his contract) who they’re not entirely committed to, jettisoning his high wages off the squad bill.
Assuming that Trent Alexander-Arnold would be open to a potential opportunity to return to an environment where he was adored and his personal game was celebrated (at least within the bounds of Merseyside) – it’s a potential win-win for every party.
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