A player who left Anfield 14 months ago is being told, in public, to cut his losses in Madrid. Jose Mourinho has kept Trent Alexander-Arnold out of both of his opening starting XIs, and the loudest reaction in England has been an appeal for a Premier League loan before deadline day.
Alexander-Arnold came on for the final 11 minutes of the Matchday 1 win at Espanyol and was an unused substitute in Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Real Sociedad. Denzel Dumfries, signed from Inter Milan this summer, played the full 90.
Dumfries picked at Mourinho’s request
The pecking order is not an accident. Mourinho asked directly for Dumfries as a summer signing, and the Dutchman is winning aerial duels and leading the team’s tackle count in the defensive profile a Mourinho side tends to be built around.
The trade-off is on the ball. Alexander-Arnold’s crossing and range of passing are the reason Real Madrid signed him in the first place, but the Portuguese has opened the season leaning on the more physical option. The England international has one line to show for 14 months in white: no goals and seven assists in 36 appearances, with last season broken down as three assists in 21 La Liga games and nine European outings.
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Brassell floats a Newcastle loan
talkSPORT’s European football expert Andy Brassell used his slot on the station to argue the next move should be to St James’ Park on loan.
“He’d be brilliant for Newcastle, who, before they went out and bought Amar Dedic, were definitely looking for a right-back,” Brassell said, per Football365.
“If you could loan Alexander-Arnold to Newcastle for a year, he would be brilliant there, especially with the pace they’ve got.”
Brassell framed the market bluntly.
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“The reality is because of financial reasons, the Premier League is probably the most obvious place for him to go.”
No loan approach has been reported, and Newcastle already spent to bring in Dedic. Any move would need to be agreed and lodged before the Premier League summer window closes at 11pm on Tuesday, 1 September.
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