Trent Alexander-Arnold left Liverpool for Real Madrid in 2025 but has been linked with a move away from the Bernabeu

Former Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold continues to be linked with an Anfield return after a tough start to life at Real Madrid, but one former Red thinks he has work to do if he wants to earn that move.

Alexander-Arnold left Liverpool in the summer of 2025, linking up with Xabi Alonso at the Bernabeu. Since then, though, Alonso has left the Spanish capital, with Alvaro Arbeloa briefly taking the reins before Jose Mourinho replaced him in the close-season.

The right-back has been free of the fitness issues which derailed his first season in Spain but has struggled for regular minutes under Mourinho. He has yet to start back-to-back league games this term and has played less than 400 minutes in total, with new arrival Denzel Dumfries often preferred by the Portuguese boss.

Former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore could see Alexander-Arnold leaving the Bernabeu if things don't improve for him between now and May. However, he believes the England international will need to visibly improve the defensive side of his game if he wants Andoni Iraola to bring him back to Merseyside - or at least improve the perception of that element.

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"I could see Trent moving at the end of the season, but I think if he’s going to get back into our consciousness, he’s got to be a better defensive right back," Collymore told Betarades.gr. "I don’t think he’s as poor a defensive right back as we make him out, but perception is everything, and if the public and coaches like Mourinho think he’s a one or a two out of 10 defender, but he’s an eight or a nine out of 10 attacker, he’s got to find a balance between being a seven or eight out of 10 going forward, but he’s also seven or eight out of 10 at defending.

“The thing with Trent is that he’s got an image problem that he’s a two out of 10 defender, but an eight out of 10 attacker. The only way that he’s ever gonna get round that now is by putting in for club or for country, 10-15 or even 20 performances, where if it’s Marca or whether it’s L’Equipe... or lots of different websites, they say that Trent for Real Madrid or Trent for England was exceptional defensively.

“Dumfries isn’t a better footballer than Trent but Mourinho will say Dumfries can cover, Dumfries can track back, and they’re going to be playing very big games in Europe, and he will want his team to be keeping clean sheets first and foremost.”

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Alexander-Arnold's former England colleague Kyle Walker has already taken a slightly different approach when discussing a Premier League return for the 28-year-old. The Burnley man told talkSPORT he can see the Madrid man coming back to England but thinks the way things ended at Anfield might make a reunion difficult.

"I am surprised [at his lack of minutes in Spain], but I'm not surprised," Walker said. "I feel that the way Trent played for Liverpool was very special. I feel some of the things that he did, being a boy of club, loving the club as much as he did and having Mo Salah in front of you helps an enormous amount."

When asked about a return to England, Walker added: "Why not? Can he go back to Liverpool with the way that he left? I'm not too sure."