Jose Mourinho pushes Trent Alexander-Arnold back to Liverpool

4 Nov 2026 16:32 GMT
4 min read

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Is this the end of the road for Trent Alexander-Arnold at Real Madrid? Jose Mourinho’s latest comments certainly suggest so.

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The 28-year-old has struggled mightily since his controversial move to the Spanish capital. Last year, Alexander-Arnold ran down his Liverpool contract to join Real Madrid on a free, although they did end up paying €10 million to have him available in time for the Club World Cup.

The England star’s decision to depart his boyhood club effectively for nothing rubbed many Liverpool fans the wrong way, and they may even feel a bit of schadenfreude about his current predicament.

The right-back has failed to nail down a regular starting spot and has racked up fewer than 500 minutes of action so far this term. Alexander-Arnold has been an unused substitute in six matches, but he did go the distance in a rare start against Racing Santander at the weekend.

That, however, was an outlier. In recent weeks, it has become clear that Trent is not just second choice but probably third choice in his position now. He is competing with summer signing Denzel Dumfries and midfielder Federico Valverde for the right-back spot.

Valverde takes Trent’s place

At the weekend, manager Jose Mourinho admitted that it “hurts” having to omit two of these three very good players on any given matchday. “First of all, it hurts me,” the Portuguese said when asked about the right-back situation.

“I don’t like to make players feel bad. I want them to feel good. Obviously, when you build a squad with two players per position as your foundation and then have a third player take the field, that’s something I don’t like.

“But there are things that are more important than these feelings. Things that are more important for the team at a given moment. And I decided that right now, the move was to change up the midfield and put Fede in there.”

The midfield change Mourinho alluded to was the introduction of summer recruit Bernardo Silva to play alongside Aurelien Tchouameni. This has proved to be a winning formula for the coach, but it has meant that Valverde has had to move to right-back at the expense of Dumfries and Trent.

And speaking to the media ahead of Real Madrid’s Champions League clash with AEK in Athens, the 63-year-old doubled down on this and insisted that Valverde can now be considered a full-time right-back, even if he will occasionally have to help out in midfield – or elsewhere.

“I see him as a very important player for the team,” Mourinho said of the Uruguay international. “The fact that he is the captain of Real Madrid makes him look around differently. When you are the captain, you have to be different than when you weren’t.

“It’s a different responsibility, and I think that sense of responsibility will make him play even at left-back if necessary. To me, being captain is about doing whatever is necessary for your team and your teammates. I am absolutely sure there will be no issue with Fede if he has to play anywhere.

“The truth is the squad was built with Valverde in mind as a midfielder and with two good and different right-backs. Fede, in our preseason setup, was a midfielder. This means we don’t have many midfielders [if he plays at right-back], and I am sure Fede will play as a midfielder again at some point.”

Then came the kicker: according to Mourinho, Real Madrid are simply a better, more balanced team with Valverde at right-back than with Trent. The 28-year-old has developed great chemistry with right-sided playmaker Arda Guler, who is one of the team’s most important players.

“If you ask me if I’m very happy with him as a full-back, the answer is yes,” Mourinho explained. “If you ask me if the team is better with him as a full-back and is playing better football with the combinations between him and Arda in that area, the answer is also yes.

“In midfield, we have Bernardo, Tchouameni, [Eduardo] Camavinga, Thiago [Pitarch], and that’s it. Today, we have Sergio Martinez as well. I think Fede will play as a full-back because we all like him there, but he will also have to play in midfield.”

Mourinho pushes Trent out

Mourinho’s comments suggest that it might really be game over for Alexander-Arnold at Real Madrid. Of course, he will get his minutes over the course of the season, but only playing here and there is not enough for someone who previously insisted he wanted to become the first full-back to win the Ballon d’Or.

In recent weeks, links with a Premier League return have multiplied. The likes of Arsenal and Chelsea are said to be keeping tabs on the 28-year-old, while there is also the possibility of a stunning return to Liverpool.

As of a couple of weeks ago, Trent’s stance was unequivocal: he wanted to stay and fight for his place. Despite all the rumours that he had begun considering an exit, he was still determined to make it at Real Madrid.

It increasingly looks as though he is fighting a losing battle, however. Unless there is an injury crisis, it is difficult to see him suddenly become a guaranteed starter, particularly after Mourinho’s damning assessment that Real Madrid are quite simply better with Valverde at right-back.

Despite the misgivings any Liverpool fans might have with Trent, data from analytics firm SciSports suggests that a return to Anfield could make sense for all parties. Of course, it is still too early for this to become a concrete option.

But if the situation doesn’t change drastically going forward, Alexander-Arnold may be left with no choice but to consider a Premier League comeback.