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Abuse after Anfield return
Trent Alexander-Arnold said Liverpool fans’ abuse “hurts” as he described still receiving it 14 months after leaving Anfield for Real Madrid, telling the Mirror that the “booing and disappointment” from supporters is something he can “shoulder.”
“After a disrupted first season in Spain and missing out on England's World Cup squad”
He said he watches every Liverpool game and insisted his boyhood club will always have a “place in my heart,” while also arguing he can “dissociate” the abuse he faced on his return to Anfield from the interactions he has with fans when he comes back to Merseyside to visit family.
Alexander-Arnold said online abuse is a “sad part of life in 2026” and that some messages have “crossed the line,” adding, “I choose to keep those things away from me because they don’t feel real.”
He also linked the impact of the hostility to his family, saying, “If something affects me and upsets me, it shows in my family as well. They are in it with me…we’re together.”
What he says fans want
Alexander-Arnold said he understands why Liverpool supporters felt betrayed by his departure, but he framed the online hostility and threats as something different from stadium reaction when he returned during Real Madrid’s 1-0 Champions League defeat in November.
He told the Mirror that he heard Liverpool fans “didn’t want to be told how to feel or think,” and he said, “I agree,” while adding, “But I hope one day there’ll be a degree of understanding about the decisions I wanted to make around my own life.”
The BBC reported that he continued to hope for “a degree of understanding” from Liverpool fans after revealing he still receives abuse 14 months on from leaving Anfield for Real Madrid.
In the same interview, he said he can rationalise the abuse by knowing it is “not representative of a football club I love, LFC, and it’s not representative of my home city.”
Next steps for club and country
Alexander-Arnold said his determination to return to the international stage has not been diminished after missing out on England’s World Cup squad, insisting, “Until I retire, I’m still an England player, whether I’m selected or not.”
““Until I retire, I’m still an England player, whether I’m selected or not,””
He said the last of his 34 caps came as a substitute during a 1-0 win over Andorra in June 2025, and he added that he is “always available if and when the manager needs me.”
Looking ahead, he said he will turn disappointment into fuel for the new season, saying, “I want to use it as fuel to get back into England squads and then back in an England shirt.”
At club level, he described his approach to the abuse as something he keeps away from him because it “doesn’t feel real,” while continuing to watch Liverpool games and support them as he navigates life away from Anfield.