Trent Alexander-Arnold has made only three league starts this season for Real Madrid, and that is driving the new round of transfer speculation around his future. Liverpool are among the clubs being linked with a possible move, but there is no sign Madrid want him out. The issue is his playing time, not a formal push to move him on.

Madrid's recent selection choices

Real Madrid's win over Sevilla gave a neat snapshot of where Alexander-Arnold stands right now. Jose Mourinho used Federico Valverde at right-back, Arda Guler dropped deeper, and Endrick came into the attacking line-up.

Mourinho said, “This is Valverde, one of the most versatile players in football; he can play anywhere and to an extremely high standard.” He added that he wanted a full-back who could drop deep behind Endrick, while also saying: “He put in a top-class performance; it’s not easy for a manager to leave two quality full-backs on the bench, but I felt that behind Endrick I’d really benefit from having a full-back who could drop deep and was also capable of playing well.”

That selection call matters because it was not a one-off emergency. Valverde played 85 minutes there and Real were comfortable enough to keep Alexander-Arnold unused.

The clubs watching him

TEAMtalk's Graeme Bailey said contact around Alexander-Arnold has included Liverpool, where he spent his entire senior career before leaving for Madrid, while Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Bayern Munich have all been mentioned elsewhere as clubs monitoring the situation. Bailey also said the English clubs have remained attentive to his situation since he left the UK.

The return talk is being fuelled by the workload numbers as much as the noise around his name. Alexander-Arnold has made only 14 league starts since joining Madrid in 2025, and he has managed just one Champions League appearance this season. For a player signed to be part of the next phase at right-back, that is a thin run of minutes.

Liverpool are clearly part of the story because of the obvious homecoming angle, but this is still a monitoring situation rather than a deal in motion. Madrid's recent team choices show why the conversation has reopened, and the next fixture list will tell us more about whether Alexander-Arnold gets a proper run or stays in the background.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →