When Trent Alexander-Arnold returned to Anfield as a Real Madrid player, the Englishman was booed. For the right-back, this was a continuation of the farewell he received from the Liverpool supporters at the end of last season, still in the red shirt. Jamie Carragher couldn’t comprehend Alexander-Arnold leaving Reds, and with it the opportunity to become as big in the club’s history as Steven Gerrard. Now the 27-year-old feels that there is no applause in Spain either.
When the right-back made his debut for Real in the Club World Cup last June, Liverpool supporters fired up on social media after the awkward start. Without the Liverpool players around him, Alexander-Arnold was “nothing”. Now it has later shown that the Liverpool game has missed the Englishman, especially Mo Salah seemed poor alone without Alexander-Arnold’s brilliant facilitation. Okay, this is now history, how has the first season outside Liverpool gone? Spanish media has taken a summary.
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Marca pulls the analysis, where the prospects of getting a place in England’s World Cup squad are not particularly good either.
“In his first season at the Bernabéu, Trent Alexander-Arnold has shown more weaknesses than strengths, especially defensively. He has played significantly more than Dani Carvajal (1382 vs 858), but it has not been enough for England to “see” him. The Liverpool defender has not played for his country since June 2025: less than half an hour against Andorra. And to find his last start, one has to go back to October 2024: a 3-1 win against Finland, where he scored a goal. Between injuries, doubts about Thomas Tuchel and the preference for Ben White and Tino Livramento, the England full-back for Real Madrid faces the latter part of the season with a lot to prove for his national team coach to include him among the 26 World Cup players.”
Shown more weaknesses than strengths.
Sport has described his marking as “non-existent” after matches, such as against Benfica in February 2026 , describing him as the “weakest link” in Real Madrid’s defensive line, noting that he has struggled to deal with fast wingers.
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Alexander-Arnold has also picked up injuries that have kept him out for 21 games. Real Madrid pulled up 20 million euros in sign-on fees and paid Liverpool 10 million euros to release the right-back a few weeks before the end of his contract. In addition, the royal club has made the Englishman the club’s seventh highest-paid player. Alexander-Arnold can laugh all the way to the bank, but since he announced his exit from Liverpool last spring, there have been few good days at work.
