After months of speculation, Trent Alexander-Arnold has confirmed that he will be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season when his contract expires.
His next destination has not been formally announced, but it’s just about the worst-kept secret in football at this point that he will be playing for Real Madrid next season.
Having described the exit from his boyhood club as “easily the hardest decision I’ve ever made in my life”, the 26-year-old will say his goodbyes over the coming weeks, and there is even talk that he might be able to complete his move to Real Madrid in time for the Club World Cup which kicks off in June.
That tournament could offer the first indication as to which position Alexander-Arnold will be used in at Real Madrid. That’s one of the many intriguing questions that surround this transfer, and there appear to be three main options.
The positions that Alexander-Arnold could play for Real Madrid
Competing with Carvajal at right-back
As an attack-minded right-back throughout his long career at Liverpool, that position remains the most natural fit for Alexander-Arnold and the role he’s most likely to occupy initially.
That’s because Dani Carvajal, Real Madrid’s regular right-back for more than a decade, is still recovering from a severe ACL injury which could keep the Spain international out until November. That should ensure that Alexander-Arnold goes straight into the Real Madrid starting XI when he joins the club.
Unless fresh additions are sought at left-back, the attacking play of the Englishman should offer a nice balance in contrast to the more defensively-minded Ferland Mendy on the opposite flank.
Alexander-Arnold should get a long run of games at the start of the 2025/26 campaign which could serve as an opportunity to establish himself as the club’s first choice right-back, by the time that Carvajal returns.
While some will be quick to write off Carvajal, who will turn 34 in January, after such a serious injury at such an advanced stage in his career, the competitiveness of the Leganes-born defender should not be underestimated.
Carvajal was operating at a very high level in 2024 prior to injury and was even touted in some quarters as a potential Ballon d’Or candidate, having been crowned a European champion for club and country last year.
If he can get back to anything like that level, Alexander-Arnold will face a real battle just to make the starting lineup at the Santiago Bernabeu, assuming there are no major structural changes that finds a place for both.
A wing-back role under Xabi Alonso?
One possible scenario, particularly in the event that Xabi Alonso takes over from Carlo Ancelotti this summer in Madrid, is that Alexander-Arnold ends up being used as a wing-back rather than a full-back.
That would mark a shift from his days at Liverpool where he has almost always played on the right of a back four under Jurgen Klopp and Arne Slot. However, he has always had license to roam forwards and the transition to a wing-back role shouldn’t be a particularly difficult one.
Alonso has tended to favour a 3-4-3 or 3-4-2-1 structure at Leverkusen, and while there’s no guarantee he’d do the same were he to move to the Spanish capital, Alexander-Arnold would be the obvious candidate for the right wing-back role in that system, while Carvajal would certainly be capable of operating as the right-sided central defender in a back three when he returns to fitness.
An evolution into a midfielder
Particularly at international level, where Alexander-Arnold has struggled to cement a regular starting role for England at right-back, there has always been talk of the Liverpool man eventually evolving into a midfielder.
He made a number of starts for Gareth Southgate in the role, and in theory he’s a well-suited to the role given his vision and exceptional ball-playing skills. However, we’ve not yet seen enough evidence to suggest that is going to be his long-term position.
On one hand, playing Alexander-Arnold in midfield would make sense from a Real Madrid perspective. They’ve badly missed Toni Kroos this season, and the England international is perhaps closer to the German in terms of his ability to pick a pass than any other current player in the Madrid squad.
In the event that Los Blancos stick with a similar system next term, and Carvajal returns to fitness looking strong, it’s possible we could see the new arrival used in a double pivot, or even on the right side of a three-man midfield featuring two Englishmen.
It’s likely whoever the next Real Madrid coach is will at least experiment with that approach at some stage, although there is no real suggestion that is Plan A as far as this signing is concerned.
Alexander-Arnold himself stated “I want to be the first full-back to ever do it” when talking about potentially winning a Ballon d’Or in a Sky Sports interview earlier this year, and in his mind at least, it seems clear that he sees a future in his current role, rather than as a midfield player.
