Trent Alexander-Arnold's Real Madrid career is hanging by the daintiest of threads at the moment, with the defender facing a battle for his position when the season starts
Trent Alexander-Arnold will have to impress Jose Mourinho this season
Trent Alexander-Arnold will have to impress Jose Mourinho this season
Trent Alexander-Arnold's career is at a crossroads. Just a year on from his long drawn-out move to Real Madrid, the Spanish giant has already replaced him, with Jose Mourinho signing right-back Denzel Dumfries shortly after arriving back at the club.
The defender moved from Liverpool with dreams of becoming the first right-back to win the Ballon d'Or, and he wasn't shy about telling the world those aspirations. He endured a tough first season at the club, however, and now faces a fight for his place in the first team at the Bernabeu.
Alexander-Arnold is unmistakably one of the most naturally gifted footballers to ever come through the Liverpool academy, and walked out on the chance to take over the club captaincy from Virgil van Dijk when he opted to leave at the end of his contract. The defender's move to Real Madrid - the biggest club in the world - shouldn't really be questioned, but it's hard to argue against the suggestion the gamble has backfired spectacularly.
With Dumfries signed from Inter Milan with rapid pace after the hiring of Mourinho, it's easy to see a world where the Dutchman becomes first-choice this season, leaving Alexander-Arnold in a pickle.
Snubbed by Thomas Tuchel at this summer's World Cup, the man described by many as the best right-back in world football is at the point where he may realistically have to change his position just to play.
If that is the case, he'll be going against the view of Jurgen Klopp from four years ago, when the then-Liverpool boss was gobsmacked by Alexander-Arnold playing in midfield for Gareth Southgate's England.
Trent Alexander-Arnold is facing a new challenge with Jose Mourinho
Trent Alexander-Arnold is facing a new challenge with Jose Mourinho(Image: (Photo by Christian Bruna/Getty Images))
At the time, Klopp said: "Why would you make the best right-back in the world a midfielder? I don't understand that really.
"As if the right-back position is not as important as the others. People who say that I struggle to understand how you could think that."
The midfield experiment is one Alexander-Arnold has tried before, both for England and Liverpool, but it's hard to argue he's made more of an impact on games anywhere other than from right-back.
He's shown flashes, too, that at Madrid he can unlock the pacy forwards Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. from further back on the pitch, floating long balls perfectly beyond opposition defenders.
But if Dumfries is the man for Mourinho's new-look Madrid, which could very well be the case due to Alexander-Arnold's perceived defensive liabilities, then the Scouser will have little choice but to battle it out in the midfield room.