It’s all fallen apart for Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Last year the homegrown Liverpool right-back was celebrating a second Premier League title win.
And if things were slightly different he might well be looking forward to succeeding Virgil van Dijk as the club’s permanent captain. Instead of signing a new contract however he opted to let his deal run down and moved to Real Madrid on a cut-price deal.
While Trent’s bank balance may have been much improved – due to a massive signing-on fee and a reported salary of around £300k per week – his on-field career has nosedived.
Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp – and for parts of Arne Slot’s reign – were optimised for Trent. Whether it was as a playmaker from right-back or else an inverted midfielder Trent was given responsibility and made things happen.
And in the early part of his final season at Anfield his England career finally got going too.
Trent loses ground for England and Madrid
After being hung out to dry in midfield by Gareth Southgate at Euro 2024 Trent nailed down a starting berth at right-back under Lee Carsley.
With Kieran Trippier and Kyle Walker finally out of the picture – and Reece James suffering constant injuries – Trent was given the shirt and did not disappoint.
He was “player of the match” for THREE UEFA Nations League matches that autumn – against Ireland and Finland twice – and looked set for a long reign in his preferred position.
But injuries, the ill-fated Madrid move and Thomas Tuchel’s appointment as England manager have been blows that Trent simply cannot recover from.
Far from being a nailed-on starter Trent has had to fight for recognition inside a hostile Real Madrid dressing room and with a partisan local media.
Dani Carvajal has made it plain what he thinks about Alexander-Arnold and the media has simply not been won over. Worse still this is a historically bad Madrid season – cycling through managers and facing down a civil war inside the Bernabeu.
The 27-year-old has been out of form or injured throughout his debut campaign – leading to a demotion under Tuchel at international level – playing only a measly 25 minutes since the German took over.
Trent Alexander-Arnold dropped from England squad
The England squad for the upcoming FIFA World Cup has now been named and Alexander-Arnold is nowhere near it despite being on the initial list of 55 names called up.
James – despite a recent injury – is expected to start at right-back and others such as Tino Livramento, Djed Spence and Jarell Quansah have also been brought in.
And who knows – if Ben White had been fit he too could have been on the plane ahead of the Madrid No12.
What a fall from grace.
In the space of one season Trent has gone from being a surefire England starter to fifth or even sixth-choice at right-back.
He could not have envisaged a worse start in Madrid white – with uncertainty surrounding his future at club level and his international career flatlining.
It truly is a case of what might have been for Liverpool and Trent following a miserable year for both club and player.
Liverpool suffering without Trent
Let’s not beat around the bush; Liverpool miss Trent immensely and his signing for Madrid could well have been the ruination of their 2025/26 season.
There are so many knock-on effects from losing him – including Mo Salah’s lack of output and Dominik Szoboszlai being shifted around the team to cover a lack of quality at right-back.
But maybe Trent and his advisors are now learning that the grass is not always greener. Because his career has gone into a tailspin since leaving Liverpool.