Glen Johnson Warns Against Trent Alexander-Arnold's Return to Liverpool

Liverpool have been urged to resist a sensational return for Trent Alexander-Arnold, barely a year after the defender forced through a move to Real Madrid.

The 27-year-old’s Anfield exit at the end of the 2024-25 season left scars. With his contract running down to June 2025, Liverpool repeatedly pushed a lucrative new deal across the table. Alexander-Arnold kept stalling. The longer it dragged on, the louder the whispers about Madrid became.

They were right.

On May 30, 2025, Real Madrid paid €10million (£8.5m) to buy him out of the final year of his contract, fast-tracking his arrival for the Club World Cup. For many Liverpool supporters, it felt like a betrayal. A local lad, a Champions League winner, a player who had openly spoken about his dream of one day captaining the club, walking away for a cut-price fee after months of uncertainty.

The anger has not entirely cooled.

Now, after a difficult first season at the Bernabeu and the arrival of Denzel Dumfries to challenge him at right-back, Alexander-Arnold’s future has again been thrown into the rumour mill. Some reports have even floated the idea of a return to Anfield, with Liverpool’s own right-back options hit by injuries to Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley last term.

That is a step too far for Glen Johnson.

‘I wouldn’t re-sign him’

The former Liverpool and England right-back, asked about the possibility of Alexander-Arnold coming back, made his stance clear.

“I’m not sure how the fans would receive that move,” Johnson told Liverpool.com. “I can’t imagine they’d be too happy with it, to be honest, especially if Liverpool had to pay a fee for a local lad who left the club for free twelve months ago.”

Johnson did not question Alexander-Arnold’s past impact at Anfield, but he believes the player who left in 2025 is not the same one now struggling to impose himself in Spain.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure the fans would warm back up to him after a while, but I don’t think he’s the same player as he was at Liverpool a year or two ago,” he said. “He’s been a shadow of himself on the pitch since he left Liverpool, and if he’d been great, Real Madrid wouldn’t be letting him go. I wouldn’t re-sign him if I was making the decisions at Liverpool.”

It’s a blunt assessment, and one that cuts to the heart of the debate: are Liverpool looking at a returning hero, or a declining asset whose best days were already spent in red?

Mourinho backs his man

Inside Madrid, the picture is more complicated. Spanish outlet AS reported earlier this month that Jose Mourinho, back in charge at the Bernabeu, wants Alexander-Arnold to stay.

Mourinho sees a deep-lying playmaker, a full-back who can step into midfield and dictate games, even if last season never truly caught fire for him. Dumfries’ arrival raises the stakes, but it does not automatically push Alexander-Arnold out of the door. Instead, it sets up a battle for the position that could yet revive his form.

So while speculation has swirled about an exit, Madrid’s new-old coach is not ready to give up on a player whose passing range and set-piece quality remain elite when he is at his best.

United urged to pounce – but rivalry looms large

The transfer noise has not been confined to Merseyside and Madrid. Earlier this summer, former Manchester United captain Antonio Valencia made his own pitch: take Alexander-Arnold to Old Trafford.

“Trent is a player I like a lot,” Valencia said. “He has a very good right foot, he crosses well, and he is a player who defends well.

“He would be very good for Manchester United. He knows the Premier League. He knows what it means to win the Champions League and the Premier League.

“He is a passionate player, and I would like to see him at Manchester United.

“Hopefully it could happen, because we need players like that at Old Trafford. To play at that stadium, you need people with a lot of personality.

“Manchester always have to renew the squad, and this is a team that we hope can have a good Premier League season and win it.

“But in terms of a right-back… I just hope that whoever comes in can be the best possible option. And I hope [Diogo] Dalot does not leave, of course.”

Valencia’s admiration is clear. The logic is obvious too: United need quality, experience and personality in key positions. Alexander-Arnold ticks those boxes.

The problem? The badge he used to wear.

Crossing the divide between Liverpool and Manchester United remains one of the great taboos in English football. The rivalry runs deep, emotionally and historically. For all the talk of tactics and squad building, it is extremely difficult to picture Alexander-Arnold – a boyhood Liverpool fan who came through their academy – walking out at Old Trafford in United red.

So the defender stands at a crossroads. Madrid want to keep him. A United legend would welcome him. Some Liverpool fans still feel bruised, and a former Anfield right-back says the club should move on.

For a player who once seemed destined to be Liverpool’s future captain, the next decision will define the rest of his career.