Real Madrid to poach a more defensively savvy version of Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool? | OneFootball

Trent Alexander-Arnold is a wanted man, with reports emerging that Real Madrid have made the Liverpool full-back a priority target.

Alexander-Arnold’s present deal expires in June 2025 and starting in January, he will be free to negotiate a free transfer with other clubs. Talks over a renewal at Anfield are ongoing, but when the 26-year-old was asked about his future last week when on England duty, he told ITV: “I’ve entered the prime of my career right now, and I don’t want to be the player who only won trophies when he was young.”

If such a move were ever to transpire, Alexander-Arnold wouldn’t be the first Englishman to leave the Premier League for Real Madrid. Among the few to do so include Reds predecessors Steve McManaman and Michael Owen, the latter having played with David Beckham, who recently sang the Liverpudlians praise for one facet of his game that many have likened the pair sharing.

“If there was one player I look at, and I think he’s very similar in the way he delivers the ball, he’s very similar in the way he crosses the ball or passes, it has to be Trent [Alexander-Arnold],” he said when apperaing on the Rio Ferdinand Presents podcast.

“His vision, he’s unbelievable. And he’s an exceptional player, but when I look at a player and I think I see myself in the way he puts the ball in, what he sees, in the long balls that he plays.

“He plays balls that some players don’t even think about and that’s what I love about him as a player.”

Beckham would not be surprised to learn that Alexander-Arnold ranks highly regarding successful crosses in the Premier League this season. As for the rest of his attacking game, he is the second most creative full-back in the Premier League (16 chances) with the highest xA score (0.39), and no right-back has registered more final third entries per 90 (10.14), but the other side of his game is where he wants to be judged on.

“I said to him [Liverpool manager Arne Slot] that I would like to be the defender that no one wants to come up against in Europe,” Alexander-Arnold recently said.

“We agreed that he will be harsh on me. If any time an attacker gets by me and gets past me, he will call it out in meetings, and individual meetings, and say this cannot happen. We go through every game together and he highlights where he wants me to improve. Even after the Milan game, we had about 20 clips going through what I could have done better and the good parts as well.

“It is really refreshing to have a manager who will help and guide and teach me how to be better as a player. I am someone who wants to learn, someone who wants to be the best and someone who strives to be the best ever.”

So, is that the case? Before exploring, it’s worth acknowledging that seven Premier League matches under the Dutch tactician is a considerable caveat, an example being errors leading to shots (0.13 per 90 last season compared to 0 this campaign) and goals (0.08 vs 0) are generally rare among defenders at the top level.

Alexander-Arnold’s personal Squawka Score is slightly up so far this season (74% compared to 72% last term), but it’s marginal, whereas many other metrics (per 90) have this current version of TAA down slightly: interceptions (while retaining possession: 1.29 vs 0.77), successful clearances (1.75 vs 0.61), possessions won in defensive third (3.29 vs 2), dispossessions in own half (0 vs 0.61) and unsuccessful touches (1.13 vs 1.23).

But there’s one area where he’s slightly improved, and it’s perhaps bringing him personal satisfaction given he wants Slot to make him “the defender that no one wants to come up against”: tackles won (1.08 vs 1.69) and dribbled past (2.5 vs 1.08). Plus, from a team perspective, shot on target against while on the pitch (3.96 vs 3.69).

However, there can be an explanation for why some of those numbers (such as interceptions and clearances) are down. And that’s when looking at Slot’s more controlled system and Liverpool’s defending as a team, leading to Alexander-Arnold making fewer mistakes.

Even so, the notion that Alexander-Arnold is poor at defending lingers, which he admits can be hard to dispel.

“I think that perception was perhaps harsh if I am honest,” Alexander-Arnold said. “It was a big perception and it was hard to kind of shrug off with just one good defensive game. But when you put a lot together… we have had four out of five clean sheets [in the league], and that is exceptional from a back line.

“Defences win championships — that is the old saying and being part of that defence means I have responsibilities to make sure my winger doesn’t get a sniff in the game. I lay targets for every game, such as how many times I am dribbled past, how many times does he get a cross in, how many times a shot. Then I look back on it.”