Trent Alexander-Arnold speculation intensifies as ex-Liverpool man made 'biggest regret' claim

Trent Alexander-Arnold has endured a difficult start to life at Real Madrid since his move from Liverpool, with reports in Spain claiming Alvaro Arbeloa wants him to leave in the summer

Trent Alexander-Arnold has struggled for regular minutes at Real Madrid(Image: Getty Images)

Trent Alexander-Arnold isn't the first soccer player to encounter challenges after departing Liverpool.

The right-back's protracted transfer situation culminated in a switch to Real Madrid as his Anfield contract wound down. He was crucial to the Reds' achievements under Jurgen Klopp, instrumental in securing both the Premier League and Champions League.

During his final campaign with his hometown club, Alexander-Arnold, 27, featured 33 times as the side claimed another Premier League crown under Arne Slot. Yet the defender has found life difficult at his new destination, with fitness issues and squad competition restricting him to just five La Liga starting appearances.

Spanish media outlets have suggested that new Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa has told Alexander-Arnold to seek a summer exit as the full-back doesn't feature in the club's future strategy. Yet reports in the United Kingdom claim this is not the case.

This has sparked conjecture about a potential Anfield comeback down the line, though his underwhelming Madrid beginning has been predominantly injury-related. It's certainly not the Spanish adventure Alexander-Arnold had imagined.

Liverpool icon Jamie Carragher had, though, cautioned the full-back during the transfer speculation that walking away from the Reds risked harming his standing with supporters of his childhood team.

Peter Crouch described leaving Liverpool as one of his biggest regrets(Image: Getty Images)

"The fans' attitude towards Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, both also out of contract in the summer, is not the same as it is for Trent," he wrote for The Telegraph in December 2024. "There are lots of reasons for that, but a big part of that is the local-boy factor.

"The feeling is that playing for Liverpool should be the ultimate ambition for a Liverpool lad. It was that way for Macca [Steve McManaman], Michael [Owen], Stevie [Gerrard] and myself and it will be the same for Trent and Curtis Jones."

While there's been no indication that Alexander-Arnold has second thoughts about his Madrid switch, history shows he wouldn't be the first to find things difficult after departing Anfield. Ex-colleague Philippe Coutinho stands out as a prominent case of a former Red who never quite rediscovered his peak performance levels.

'Biggest regret' claim

Similarly, ex-Liverpool striker Peter Crouch looked back with regret on his 2008 transfer to Portsmouth. Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2020, over a decade on, the England forward expressed his wish that he'd remained on Merseyside.

He said: "It would have been brilliant to be a one-club man or to spend 10 years at a particular place. My biggest club regret is leaving Liverpool too early, but circumstances meant I had little option."

Alexander-Arnold will be hoping to mirror the achievements of Steve McManaman and Xabi Alonso, both of whom flourished at Real Madrid following their departures from Liverpool. Yet Michael Owen's transfer to the Spanish giants in 2004, and his subsequent switch to Manchester United, serves as a stark warning.

"I have almost had to cut off, it has been painful going back to Anfield and hearing boos while I was at Newcastle," Owen said on Jamie Carragher's The Greatest Game podcast in 2020.

"Crying in the playing lounge and hoping nobody sees. You (Carragher) going public helped, but it has been torture for a long time. It is like splitting up with your wife. I can only blame myself, I said yes to Real Madrid.

"I still love Liverpool. Different to you (Carragher), you are still at that club being idolized. I was you. And yet there is a polarised opinion because of me, thinking I will go away for a year, and all of a sudden it is all ruined."