“It hurts because of how much I’ve put into the club over the course of 20 years.” Trent Alexander-Arnold said it about Liverpool, in the first wide-ranging interview since his acrimonious move to Real Madrid last year.
He told the Mirror he understands the fury. Booing, even anger, he can shoulder. What he separates from it is the abuse that goes past football. “Abuse online and threats made via social DMs or in other ways are a sad part of life in 2026 if you’re in the public eye,” he said, adding that he keeps those things away from him because they don’t feel real.
Back at Anfield
The right-back returned to Anfield last November for a Champions League match Liverpool won 1-0. Fans jeered him in the warm-up and again when he came on from the bench in the 80th minute. Near the ground, the word “rat” was daubed repeatedly over a mural celebrating him. A friend sent him the image, and it weighed on him before the trip. His family were upset too. “If something affects me and upsets me, it shows in my family as well,” he said.
Even the building felt strange. “I’d never actually stepped foot in there before,” he said of the away changing room.
Away from social media, he says, the picture is different. He has been back to Liverpool several times to see family and met many fellow Scousers and Reds. “Not a single interaction I’ve had in person reflects the sort of stuff you get online,” he said. “This isn’t me saying everyone in Liverpool is fine with me leaving the club. Of course they aren’t.” On the wider problem of pile-ons and their effect on mental health, he thinks governments and tech companies have to solve it.
Home is still home
A local boy who joined the academy at six, he played 259 times for Liverpool. When he announced his departure in May 2025, he told the club’s website he understood fans would be disappointed and angry, and that he had made the decision for himself. Now he says he watches every game. “There will always be a place in my heart for Liverpool, no matter what. It is home to me.”
He also hopes for something in return. “One day there’ll be a degree of understanding about the decisions I wanted to make around my own life,” he said.
The England call
The same interview covered his omission from England’s World Cup squad. He was at home in Madrid when Thomas Tuchel phoned, and he took the call in his bedroom while family visited. “When I put the phone down, I was properly gutted. Absolutely gutted. I’d made no plans for my summer because I hoped I’d be in the squad.”
He was angry as well, and said so. “He wants players who are desperate to play for England. I am one of those. I think he would respect the fact that it really hurt me.” He did not complain publicly. “Speaking out in public is not going to change the manager’s decision. Life goes on.”
His view of the competition is plain. “We’ve had a lot of really, really good right-backs in this generation,” he said, and managers pick the best fit. “That’s never really been me so far.” He watched England throughout the World Cup. “Until I retire, I’m still an England player, whether I’m selected or not. I’m always available if and when the manager needs me.” He plans to carry the feeling into the season: “I want to use it as fuel to get back into England squads and then back in an England shirt.”
Diogo Jota
He also spoke about the death of former teammate Diogo Jota in a car crash, aged 28. Alexander-Arnold was in the United States at the Club World Cup with Real Madrid at the time. “Going through it on your own” made it harder, he said, with those who had known Jota longer grouped together far away. Laying flowers at Anfield afterwards helped him find closure. The two spoke every day, he said, and trained together while both were injured. “He was just a really good guy. He was very honest.”
Sources
- Trent Alexander-Arnold lays bare abuse after Liverpool exit but still loves club
- Alexander-Arnold understands fan frustration at Liverpool exit
