Journalist reveals the chances of Trent Alexander-Arnold returning to Liverpool

Trent Alexander-Arnold Liverpool Return Talk Faces Major Reality Check

Trent Alexander-Arnold returning to Liverpool would certainly generate headlines. Whether it makes much sense for Liverpool, Real Madrid or Alexander-Arnold himself is another matter entirely.

Speculation over a possible Anfield comeback has resurfaced after a difficult opening to the season for the 27-year-old in Madrid. Yet Ian Doyle of the Liverpool Echo has poured cold water on the idea, pointing towards something rather more significant than form or sentiment. Liverpool have already started building a team without him.

Liverpool have moved forward without Alexander-Arnold

Doyle’s assessment gets straight to the central issue:

‘It would represent quite a climbdown for Trent Alexander-Arnold to return to Liverpool any time soon, and the fact is the Reds have, similar to any club in their situation, moved on.

‘There’s no doubt Trent is better than any of Liverpool’s current right-back options and, for me, is the best to play for the club in that position during my 43-and-a-half years of watching the Reds.

‘While the likes of Ian Rush and Robbie Fowler have proven it is possible to make a successful return, the manner in which Trent left for Real Madrid suggests the hassle might not be worth it. He deserved better, but that’s all in the past now.’

That feels like a fair reading of the situation. Liverpool can simultaneously recognise Alexander-Arnold’s extraordinary quality and decide that bringing him back would create complications they simply do not need.

Right-back question keeps Liverpool rumours alive

There is, of course, a football argument.

Alexander-Arnold was fundamental to Liverpool for years, providing a level of passing and creativity from right-back that few defenders anywhere could replicate. Liverpool have also struggled to find a definitive long-term answer in that position since his departure.

Ronald Araújo has impressed there recently under Andoni Iraola, although Liverpool’s new head coach will ultimately need to determine exactly how he wants the position to function within his system.

Photo: IMAGO

Alexander-Arnold would offer something very different. That alone ensures the conversation will continue whenever his situation in Spain becomes uncertain.

Real Madrid struggles create intriguing backdrop

His start under Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid has hardly silenced the speculation. Alexander-Arnold has started only two of Madrid’s opening seven LaLiga matches, according to the figures cited in the original report.

That does not mean his Madrid career has failed. Seven league matches represents a tiny sample, particularly for somebody adapting to another country, another league and another tactical environment.

Liverpool supporters also remember what Alexander-Arnold can do when a team is structured around his strengths. His passing range remains exceptional.

Yet football clubs cannot continually revisit previous eras.

Rush and Fowler returned successfully because the circumstances made sense at the time. Any Alexander-Arnold comeback would need to clear the same test.

For now, Doyle’s phrase that Liverpool have ‘moved on’ probably captures the situation better than anything else. Iraola has inherited a squad requiring development in the present, rather than reconstruction around one of its most celebrated former players.

Alexander-Arnold’s Liverpool story may have another chapter someday. September 2026 simply feels very early to start writing it.

Our View – Anfield Index Analysis

From a Liverpool supporter’s perspective, this is one of those rumours that immediately gets you thinking, even if your first reaction is that it probably should not happen anytime soon.

Purely as a footballer, you would take Alexander-Arnold’s qualities. Liverpool supporters know exactly what he can produce. There are passes he sees that most players would never contemplate attempting, and right-back has hardly become an unquestionably solved position since he departed.

Still, the timing feels awkward.

Alexander-Arnold made an enormous decision to leave his boyhood club for Real Madrid. Liverpool then had to make their own decisions. Players moved into different roles, recruitment plans changed and now Iraola is beginning another tactical rebuild.

Bringing Trent back so quickly would reopen every argument surrounding his departure before the dust has properly settled.

What intrigues me more is what happens over the next two or three years. If Alexander-Arnold eventually becomes available, Liverpool still need a right-back and relations between player and supporters have softened, the conversation could look completely different.

Rush came back. Fowler came back. Football has a funny habit of reopening doors everyone assumed were closed.

For now, though, Liverpool should be concentrating on building Iraola’s Liverpool. Trent chose Madrid, Liverpool chose to move forward, and both decisions deserve time to play out.

<

p style=”text-align:justify”>Word count: approximately 660 words