Trent Alexander-Arnold return links emerge after ex-Liverpool star's biggest regret admission

 Trent Alexander-Arnold is not the first player to have faced difficulties since leaving Liverpool. The right-back was the subject of a long-running transfer saga and eventually joined Real Madrid for £8.4million as he neared the end of his contract at Anfield.

The 27-year-old was an integral part of the Reds’ success under Jurgen Klopp, playing a pivotal role in the club’s Premier League and Champions League triumphs. In his last season with his boyhood club, Alexander-Arnold made 33 appearances as the team clinched another league title under Arne Slot.

However, the defender has struggled at his new club, with injuries and competition for places limiting him to five La Liga starts. Reports in Spain have claimed that new Real Madrid boss Alvaro Arbeloa has instructed Alexander-Arnold to leave the club in the summer as the full-back is not part of their long-term plans.

This has prompted speculation of a possible return to Liverpool in the future, despite his disappointing start in Madrid largely stemming from injury troubles. It is not how Alexander-Arnold would have envisioned his start to life in Spain. However, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher did warn the full-back during his transfer saga that choosing to leave the Reds could damage his relationship with fans of his boyhood club.

"The fans’ attitude towards Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, both also out of contract in the summer, is not the same as it is for Trent," he wrote for The Telegraph in December 2024. "There are lots of reasons for that but a big part of that is the local-boy factor.

"The feeling is that playing for Liverpool should be the ultimate ambition for a Liverpool lad. It was that way for Macca [Steve McManaman], Michael [Owen], Stevie [Gerrard] and myself and it will be the same for Trent and Curtis Jones."

Although there has been no suggestion that Alexander-Arnold is regretting his decision to join Madrid, he is not the first player to struggle after leaving Liverpool. His former teammate Philippe Coutinho is a high-profile example of an ex-Reds star who failed to recapture his best form.

Meanwhile, former Liverpool striker Peter Crouch rued his decision to leave for Portsmouth in 2008. During a Q&A for the Daily Mail in 2020, more than a decade later, the England international wished he had stayed at Anfield.

He said: "It would have been brilliant to be a one-club man or to spend 10 years at a particular place. My biggest club regret is leaving Liverpool too early, but circumstances meant I had little option."

Alexander-Arnold will hope to emulate the success of Steve McManaman and Xabi Alonso, who both thrived at Real Madrid after leaving Liverpool. However, Michael Owen’s decision to join Los Blancos in 2004 and later moving to rivals Manchester United offers another cautionary tale.

"I have almost had to cut off, it has been painful going back to Anfield and hearing boos while I was at Newcastle," Owen said on Jamie Carragher’s The Greatest Game podcast in 2020.

"Crying in the playing lounge and hoping nobody sees. You (Carragher) going public helped but it has been torture for a long time. It is like splitting up with your wife. I can only blame myself, I said yes to Real Madrid.

"I still love Liverpool. Different to you (Carragher), you are still at that club being idolised. I was you. And yet there is a polarised opinion because of me thinking I will go away for a year and all of a sudden it is all ruined."