The question now arises as to how Alexander-Arnold slots in within the Madrid squad.
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### Which English players have played for Real Madrid?
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The obvious answer is that he will be their next starting right-back, and you can see why. Not only is incumbent starter Dani Carvajal getting on in age, he is also currently out with a long-term injury.
His back-up has more often been midfielder Federico Valverde than winger-turned-defender Lucas Vazquez.
The former has been excellent as a full-back whilst the latter appears to be simply an admirable squad player, nothing more.
Theoretically, Alexander-Arnold slots right in. But what if that was not the case?
Throughout his career, Alexander-Arnold has been put forward as an option to play in midfield.
For some, this is down to unfair judgements of his defensive ability, but for others - including this writer - it is because of his playmaking ability.
Of course, these days, with the way some managers use full-backs, this kind of debate matters less.
However, when Valverde played at right-back, former Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti did not push him inside often.
Rewind back to 2021 when Alexander-Arnold ‘nearly ripped net off’ with absolute rocket
Video credit: TNT Sports
So does that open the door for Alexander-Arnold? It seems clear that Los Blancos had hoped the void left by the retirement of first Toni Kroos would be filled by Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelien Tchouameni and potentially even by Jude Bellingham dropping deeper.
Valverde remains the unicorn in his capacity to act as a classic box-to-box midfielder with an engine that few can match.
The reality, however, has been quite different: Tchouameni has been needed as centre-back cover and Camavinga has not taken that step forward. Neither have shown yet they can be true Real Madrid midfielders.
That put pressure on an ageing Luka Modric - who is now leaving the club - and Dani Ceballos, who has had injury issues and may well be deemed surplus to requirements by new manager Xabi Alonso.
There might be some adjustment period - and it is unclear if Alexander-Arnold even wants to do this - but if Madrid are patient, it feels as if he is perfectly set up to be a long-term stalwart in the midfield over the next half-decade.
It is a big claim for a player who has never regularly played in that position and is already 26, but the potential is tantalising.
Statistically, when we compare Alexander-Arnold to the Real Madrid midfielders in league football this season, he is second in terms of tackles won per 90 minutes (behind Eduardo Camavinga).
He is also second in chances and big chances created (behind Luka Modric) and, perhaps more interestingly, second in shots (behind Jude Bellingham). He ranks comparably in interceptions, too.
The one area that is a real red flag is passing. He is second-lowest in terms of passes per 90 minutes and the worst when it comes to successful passes.
This is mostly short-area stuff; in terms of long passes, he ranks a lot better. In the 2023/24 season, only Kroos played more successful long passes than Alexander-Arnold when comparing him to Madrid midfielders, and this season no-one has played more.
A lot of this comes from the fact that he is playing full-back, but this is an important weapon in Alexander-Arnold’s arsenal to consider when we talk about him playing in midfield.
**Alexander-Arnold v Real Madrid midfielders in 24/25 season (all stats per average 90 minutes)**
**Trent Alexander-Arnold**
**Federico Valverde**
**Luka Modric**
**Aurelien Tchouameni**
**Jude Bellingham**
**Dani Ceballos**
**Eduardo Camavinga**
Tackles won
1.9
0.9
1.0
0.8
1.2
1.6
**2.1**
Interceptions
1.17
**1.63**
1.34
1.54
1.01
1.03
1.48
Shots
1.7
1.69
1.09
0.64
**2.24**
0.52
0.66
Passes
61.2
64.2
91.3
67.0
54.5
**98.3**
62.5
Successful passes
47.6
58.5
83.4
62.3
47.7
**93.5**
55.6
Chances created
2.01
1.16
**3.27**
0.17
1.52
1.63
0.9
Big chances created
0.57
0.21
**0.84**
0.07
0.14
0.22
0.08
However, with all that said, you might be asking yourself, given we are talking about stepping in for two of the best ball-playing midfielders of this century, how on earth can Alexander-Arnold replace either Modric or Kroos?
Part of this is a bet on potential. For most of his time at Liverpool, Alexander-Arnold has been encouraged to be adventurous with his passing.
That's because a) he sees passes other players do not, b) he has the technique and the range to hit those passes, and c) Liverpool’s midfield has not always been the most creative.
In many ways, he was Liverpool’s answer to Kevin De Bruyne. He made them _tick_, but he did not have the responsibility of keeping them _ticking over_.
It is a small difference, but a key one. Just because he has never been asked to do this, does not mean he cannot.
Another aspect to consider is his exact position within the midfield. Whereas Kroos was a deeper No. 6, Modric was always more of a hybrid No. 8/10, operating a bit higher up the pitch on average.
When people talk about Alexander-Arnold playing in midfield, they talk about him as that classic deep-lying playmaker role like Kroos. But perhaps he is better off not being constrained by those shackles.
He clearly has the ability when it comes to passing, and it has always felt as if he could be a regular goal threat should he be played further forward.
You can have Tchouameni or Ceballos sitting deeper to keep play going and protect the backline, but Alexander-Arnold can be the one who breaks from midfield with the ball and then finds that pinpoint pass through the defensive lines.
This is something Bellingham has not been as adept at in Spain, operating better as the No. 10 in his debut season, but there is a world in which you see Madrid shift back to a 4-3-3 from the 4-4-2 Ancelotti has been using this season.
Again, someone like Tchouameni sits at the base of midfield. Then you have Alexander-Arnold as one of the No. 8s next to either Bellingham or, if the Englishman plays further forward, Valverde.
They are the legs making devastating runs from deep off the ball, whilst Alexander-Arnold finds them or the attacking runners with his vision and passing.
And like Valverde, Alexander-Arnold’s defensive ability means that even though you are playing with one pivot, you do have some form of solidity in the two in front of that pivot.
If Madrid wanted to get experimental with it, this is where things could get more fluid.
Combining the two ideas detailed above would see Alexander-Arnold and Valverde as interchangeable players between right-back and the centre of midfield.
Have them move back and forth during a game depending on the flow of the match and what is needed in any given moment.
Relive Alexander-Arnold’s most iconic Liverpool moment
Video credit: TNT Sports
Perhaps this will never come to pass, and indeed it seems more likely than not that it will not, but the important thing to remember here is the kind of options that a player like Alexander-Arnold can provide a team with.
Maybe he is not the greatest full-back ever, defensively speaking - although he is far better than most give him credit for - but he is such a special player when it comes to creating chances that surely it behoves Madrid to at least try?
Ancelotti was responsible for one of this author’s favourite positional shifts over the past couple of decades back in the 2013/14 campaign, when he moved Angel Di Maria, traditionally a winger, to a box-to-box No. 8 hybrid role.
Di Maria was a revelation in this role and it shows that Ancelotti is not afraid to think outside of the box when it comes to fitting his best players in.
Alonso is early in his managerial career but has shown a willingness to push players into roles that he thinks work best for them personally and also for the team as a whole.
We still don't have a lot of data on what kind of manager Alonso is and how rigidly he will stick to his systems, but it is clear that Alonso values attacking full-backs (see Alejandro Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong) and he isn't afraid to get creative with how he uses players.
Perhaps Alonso will give us a glimpse into Alexander-Arnold's full potential at the Club World Cup.
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