Trent Alexander-Arnold's Potential Return to Liverpool Amid Madrid Struggles
Liverpool have opened talks over a sensational move to bring Trent Alexander-Arnold back to Anfield in January, sounding out the defender’s camp as his Real Madrid career stalls on the fringes of Jose Mourinho’s squad.
Spanish radio station SER Deportivos reports that Liverpool have contacted the 28-year-old’s representatives and are actively weighing up a loan deal for the winter window, sensing an opportunity in a situation that has deteriorated rapidly for the England international in Madrid.
From marquee signing to third choice
Alexander-Arnold’s time in Spain has turned sour. Once unveiled as a statement signing, he has started only 4 of Real Madrid’s 13 matches this season and has slipped to third in the pecking order at right-back.
Federico Valverde, a natural midfielder, has leapfrogged him in Mourinho’s thinking. So has summer arrival Denzel Dumfries, whose energy and defensive edge have quickly earned the Portuguese coach’s trust.
The clearest sign of Alexander-Arnold’s fall came in the biggest fixture of all. For the clásico against Barcelona — which Madrid won 2-1 — Mourinho again chose Valverde at right-back, leaving the Englishman watching as a spectator. For a player who arrived amid high expectations, it was a brutal reality check.
Liverpool’s need meets Madrid’s dilemma
Back on Merseyside, the timing is no coincidence. Liverpool are wrestling with a full-blown right-back shortage.
Conor Bradley has only just returned from knee surgery and is still feeling his way back. Jeremie Frimpong remains out with a muscular injury. The options are thinning, and the workload is heavy. That combination has pushed Liverpool to look outward — and, pointedly, back to a player who grew up at Anfield and left in controversial circumstances.
A short-term loan would offer Liverpool a ready-made solution: a defender who knows the club, the expectations, the pressure, and the rhythm of English football. For Alexander-Arnold, it would be a route back to regular minutes in a familiar environment at a crucial stage of his career.
Madrid, though, have more than one calculation to make.
Wages, Bellingham and the politics of a big move
Alexander-Arnold’s salary stands as one of the biggest obstacles. He earns around €16.7 million per year, a figure that would require delicate negotiation on any temporary deal. Who pays what, and how much, will be central to any serious talks.
There is also the dressing-room dynamic. Alexander-Arnold shares a close bond with Jude Bellingham, one of Madrid’s new centrepieces and already a defining figure in their medium- and long-term plans. Club sources, according to reports, are wary of doing anything that might unsettle the England midfielder or disrupt the environment that has allowed him to flourish so quickly in Spain.
Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City have all been linked with Alexander-Arnold in previous windows, a reflection of his standing at the top end of the European game. Yet those close to the player have pushed back against suggestions that he is actively agitating to leave Madrid, stressing that he is not driving a move away.
That leaves a familiar tension: a coach who trusts others more, a player out of the starting XI, and a club reluctant to trigger any off-field tremors.
A crossroads for club and player
For Liverpool, the equation is clear. They need a right-back. They know Alexander-Arnold inside out. The relationship did not end smoothly, but football has a short memory when needs are urgent and solutions are scarce.
For Real Madrid and Mourinho, the picture is more complex. Keep a high-earning, underused defender as cover and risk frustration growing on the bench? Or sanction a loan that might revive his career elsewhere while potentially weakening squad depth?
And for Alexander-Arnold, caught between a shrinking role in Spain and the pull of a club that shaped him, the winter window is starting to look less like a date on the calendar and more like a decision point.
If Liverpool make their move, how long can Madrid — and the player himself — stand still?
