This is an updated version of this article, which was published in January 2025.
At long last, an end to the Trent Alexander-Arnold saga is in sight — the right-back has announced he will leave Liverpool and is poised to join Real Madrid this summer.
Nearly a year on from the signing of Kylian Mbappe and almost two years after Jude Bellingham’s arrival, Alexander-Arnold is expected to join his fellow Englishman at the Bernabeu as another galactico arrival.
The Athletic reported that Liverpool rejected an approach from the European champions in December, but a summer move was always on the cards, with his Liverpool contract expiring at the end of June.
It is the kind of deal that Madrid president Florentino Perez has made his trademark. Tempting Alexander-Arnold away from his boyhood club, and one of the giants of English football, strengthening his club’s brand while adding another world-class player to their ranks.
Like the signings of Thibaut Courtois, Eduardo Camavinga, David Alaba, Antonio Rudiger and Mbappe, it is another deal in which Madrid made their move when the players’ contracts were reaching their final years. This tends to mean a lower fee, or no fee at all if the player is at the very end of their contract — though in that scenario players receive a signing bonus, as was the case with Mbappe.
(Diego Souto/Getty Images)
A long-term injury suffered by right-back Dani Carvajal accelerated the process, but this is a player who has long been in their sights. At right-back, or even in a situational midfield role, this is what Alexander-Arnold can bring to Madrid…
Away from the obvious significance of a deal for one of the world’s best players, the signing of Alexander-Arnold represents the first marquee addition to Madrid’s back four in quite some time.
Fran Garcia returned to the club from Rayo Vallecano for €5million (£4.2m) in 2023, while Rudiger joined in June 2022 and Alaba in July 2021 — both on free transfers. But you have to go back to 2019 — when Madrid signed both Eder Militao and Ferland Mendy for a combined fee of around €100m — to find significant investment in the defence.
That is largely down to the unerring consistency of some of the club’s longest-standing servants — and they will not simply step aside for Alexander-Arnold.
For many at the club, Carvajal is considered the perfect right-back due to his abilities in both attack and defence as well as his leadership and experience. He is quick, robust in one-v-one duels, and still has the fitness to run the flanks, where his crossing ability and link-up play are strong. Despite not being the tallest, he is also competitive in aerial duels, allowing him to play at centre-back in emergency situations.
But Carvajal has been sidelined for much of the 2024-25 season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in October. Carvajal, who is 33 years old and in October extended his contract at Madrid until 2026, has said he hopes to return for the new FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, which begins on June 14 (Madrid play their first game against Saudi side Al Hilal on June 18).
Lucas Vazquez has stepped into a full-back role in recent seasons, and while he is considered weaker in terms of positioning and duels, he tends to compensate with great physicality. His offensive contributions are also valued, while his professionalism and day-to-day presence in the dressing room help to knit together the squad.
Vazquez’s future — the Spaniard turns 34 on July 1 and his deal is up after the Club World Cup — is up in the air. Understandably, given the age of those two players, the club see it necessary to start succession planning. The 26-year-old Alexander-Arnold will freshen up an ageing part of the squad.
Unsurprisingly, those inside the club also admire Alexander-Arnold’s ability on the ball.
Last season saw the right-back take on the role of chief playmaker in Jurgen Klopp’s final term at Anfield, frequently dropping between the centre-backs or drifting into midfield to dictate proceedings from central areas, as shown below against Fulham…
“Before taking this (different role) on, I was only ever really able to break lines on the right side of the pitch,” Alexander-Arnold told The Athletic in May 2023. “I was never able to do it on the left. And if I was to play a good pass it would be a big switch, and they can only be so effective. This (central) position just opens up the whole pitch for me. I’m able to dictate the flow of the game — where we attack, how we attack and at what pace.”
Give him time and space on the ball, and he can turn a settled build-up into a dangerous attack in the blink of an eye — finding runners ahead of him without them having to break stride. As seen here against Aston Villa last season…
The speed and accuracy at which Alexander-Arnold can play these passes is something that will appeal to Madrid, who are sorely missing the long-range passing game of the retired Toni Kroos.
Particularly with such firepower out on each flank, the German’s ability to switch the play often helped to isolate Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo against their full-backs. This season, although Aurelien Tchouameni has attempted to replicate Kroos’s expansive passing from either a deep midfield role or while playing as a centre-back, the extra seconds it takes the Frenchman to get the ball out of his feet often makes the difference.
Alexander-Arnold is by no means perfect in his distribution and is clearly taking fewer risks with cross-field balls under Arne Slot this season, but the ease at which he sets up raking passes is something that Madrid may look to exploit.
As we can see from the visual below, while he was not quite as accurate, Alexander-Arnold was the only player to attempt more 30-plus yard passes per game than Kroos in Europe’s big five leagues in 2023-24.
Interestingly, Alexander-Arnold has returned to a traditional right-back role — by his own standards — since Slot arrived in the summer.
As the graphic below illustrates, Alexander-Arnold has not exclusively hugged the touchline from right-back in 2024-25. However, there is a notably lower share of touches in the central channel of the pitch compared to 2023-24.
Such versatility will be of yet more appeal to Madrid. There is uncertainty over the future of coach Carlo Ancelotti, but his coaching staff envision Alexander-Arnold providing fluidity to the tactical setup, making an impact both in midfield and out wide, where they can maximise his crossing ability — something that any coach would surely make use of.
Ancelotti and his staff have not given much thought to Alexander-Arnold’s arrival in recent months though, having been informed of this by the board at least in early March. With Madrid experiencing a difficult season, one of the phrases most repeated by coaching-staff sources has been “we are focused on the day to day, because at this rate we might not even train him ourselves”. The Athletic has reported that the former Madrid, Liverpool and Spain midfielder and Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso is Madrid’s preferred choice to replace Ancelotti, and it remains to be seen how Alexander-Arnold would be used in his system were he to be appointed.
Alonso has shown greater versatility in his team formation in Germany this season, but a key hallmark of his invincible campaign last season was Leverkusen’s marauding wing-backs shuttling up and down the flanks — a far cry from the style that would get the best out of Alexander-Arnold.
In any case, Ancelotti planned to start Carvajal ahead of Alexander-Arnold at first — so he may be given more of a chance to shine immediately under a new coach.
While he may be operating deeper and engaging in fewer crosses and switches of play under Slot, lower quantity does not equate to lower quality.
If anyone needed reminding of the creative threat he offers from right-back, Alexander-Arnold’s pinpoint cross for Luis Diaz’s opener against Tottenham Hotspur earlier this season was his 83rd assist for the club in all competitions (he has 85 in total).
Those crosses are known to be a feature of Alexander-Arnold’s game, with a rate of assists that average as close to one-in-three across his Premier League career — numbers that would be admired by an attacking midfielder, let alone a right-back.
The main criticism of Alexander-Arnold is his defensive limitations, something that is viewed with relative concern at Madrid. His performance against Manchester United this term was one to forget on and off the ball, but there is evidence that his defensive discipline has improved this season, having benefited from greater structure out of possession under his new manager.
The transitional style of football played under Klopp meant Liverpool’s No 66 had the freedom to go forward which occasionally left him out of position defensively. Under Slot, a greater out-of-possession structure means that Alexander-Arnold’s positioning and undervalued one-v-one defending have been more on show this season.
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“I’d say he (Slot) has explained how positioning is so important in football and where you are (on the pitch) — even when the ball is on the other side,” Alexander-Arnold said in a recent interview with Sky Sports.
“That changes throughout games and for each game depending on how the opposition is set up, and that is something I like — I like to be challenged.”
Alexander-Arnold and Bellingham will link up again in Madrid (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Alexander-Arnold will certainly be challenged at Madrid, one of the most demanding clubs in world football. But they have long been sold on his talents — and he will be an asset to whoever is in charge next season.
(Additional contributors: Guillermo Rai, Mark Carey)
(Photos: Getty Images/Design: Eamonn Dalton)