Trent Alexander-Arnold is evaluating his future at Real Madrid as he struggles to maintain a regular starting role under manager Jose Mourinho. The 28-year-old defender was left on the bench during the recent 4-1 LaLiga victory against Sevilla and was also excluded from the starting lineup in the UEFA Champions League win over RB Leipzig. In those instances, Mourinho opted to utilize midfielder Federico Valverde at right-back, later citing the difficulty of benching specialist defenders while praising Valverde’s versatility.
Since joining the Spanish giants from Liverpool in 2025, Alexander-Arnold has made 41 appearances across all competitions. Of those, he started 31 matches but completed the full 90 minutes on only 14 occasions. His current season statistics highlight a limited role, having started just three LaLiga matches and made two substitute appearances. Across league and Champions League play, he has logged only 343 minutes, averaging 53 minutes per league game, and was substituted shortly after halftime during a match against Villarreal. According to tEAMtalk, Alexander-Arnold is weighing up his options after growing frustrated at his lack of playing time, with Liverpool among the clubs watching. The creative numbers that made his name have dipped too.
The player’s performance metrics have also come under scrutiny.
From 115 attempted crosses for Madrid, only 25 have connected with teammates. His pass completion rate stands at 84.86%, placing him behind all teammates except for goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and Gonzalo Garcia, while he has successfully completed 69.05% of his 42 attempted tackles. While Real Madrid is not actively seeking to offload the defender, the club would be open to considering reasonable transfer offers for the player, who remains under contract until June 2031.
Several clubs are monitoring the situation as a potential transfer develops. Liverpool is viewed as a significant contender due to their current defensive injury crisis, with Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley sidelined and centre-back Ronald Araujo currently filling the right-back void. Chelsea is also tracking the situation, with reports suggesting interest from Xabi Alonso, who previously coached the full-back at Madrid. Arsenal, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich have also been linked to the England international. Bringing a youth-team graduate back to the club could be of great interest to the Reds. According to chelsea’s interest has been, By Simon Phillips, the Chelsea correspondent writing for CaughtOffside, who says Xabi Alonso wants to work with Alexander-Arnold again after coaching him in Madrid last season, and that Malo Gusto would be expected to leave Stamford Bridge if a deal happens.
As Real Madrid prepares for their upcoming clash with rivals Barcelona, expectations remain that Alexander-Arnold will start on the bench again. Mourinho is reportedly planning to deploy Denzel Dumfries and Federico Valverde in tandem against the league leaders. Neither the club nor the player has provided any public comment regarding these ongoing transfer rumors.
