Trent Alexander-Arnold has been called up by England once again despite his lack of game time at Real Madrid, which has led to speculation of a move back to Liverpool

Trent Alexander-Arnold has been handed something of a surprise boost after being included in England’s squad for the upcoming international break, despite his lack of game time at Real Madrid.

The former Liverpool vice-captain has been included in a 25-man squad by Thomas Tuchel for the Three Lions’ games against Croatia and Spain this month. Current Reds star Rio Ngumoha is also included, having made his competitive debut for his country during the last international break, while another ex-Red is included in Jarell Quansah.

Although he has generally found himself out of favor under the England boss, having been left out of the World Cup squad during the summer, Alexander-Arnold has now managed to work his way into two consecutive squads for his country this season.

That’s despite his position at the Bernabeu coming under immense scrutiny, with the 28-year-old struggling to force his way into Jose Mourinho’s plans.

Alexander-Arnold has made just eight appearances for his club so far this season, with only five of those coming from the start. In fact, since the last international break ended in October, he has played in just three of Madrid’s seven games, with one of those being a cameo from the bench against Barcelona.

His lack of game time has seen speculation of an exit from the Spanish capital - and a move back to Liverpool - grow recently, with the Anfield academy graduate having seemingly dropped even further down the pecking order after Fede Valverde was picked ahead of both him and Denzel Dumfries.

He was handed a lifeline by Mourinho last week though. Alexander-Arnold started his first game for Real in nearly a month when he played the full 90 minutes against Racing Santander at the weekend.

Just a few days later though, he was once again left on the bench for the Champions League encounter with AEK Athens - he has only played one of his club’s four European ties so far this season.

Speaking about Alexander-Arnold’s lack of game time last weekend, Mourinho said: "To begin with, it hurts me.

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"I don't like giving bad feelings to players, I prefer them to feel good. When you build a squad with two players per position and end up playing a third, it's not something I appreciate.

"But there are things more important than these feelings, things that matter more for the team at a given moment. I felt we needed to change our midfield and play Fede in that position. It was a decision made for the team, not based on individual players."