Liverpool make contact over enormous Trent Alexander-Arnold return

Trent Alexander-Arnold to Liverpool might actually be real. Reports claim contact has been made over an enormous return.

Speculation that Trent Alexander-Arnold may one day return to Liverpool has been around since before he'd even left the club. Talk that he was leaving kicked off a year in advance, after all, and there was always half a sense that he'd be back at some stage.

However, we then all witnessed how he left. The lack of any acknowledgment from his side that he would leave, the claiming it was a last-minute decision, the comments, the attitude - it felt like disrespect to a lot of people.

So why a possible return? The thinking has long been that this was a deal that worked out for absolutely no one. Alexander-Arnold is not a starting player for Real Madrid and, in fact, he's not even their second-choice right-back at the moment.

The Ballon d'Or isn't on its way, in other words.

Whereas Liverpool completely failed to replace him. They have zero production from right-back now as they've decided that actually-a-centre-back Ronald Araujo is their best option, at least while Conor Bradley is out injured.

And Real Madrid? They're paying big wages to a player they're not actually using. Which brings us to the latest update out of Spain.

Trent Alexander-Arnold to Liverpool

Cadena SER reports that Liverpool have made initial contact about a move for Alexander-Arnold. This would apparently be a loan move in January - perhaps just an initial one before something more permanent (although that's just speculation on our part).

But they claim that Liverpool asked Alexander-Arnold's representatives about a possible return. It's entirely unclear what response they got to that, however, and we can't be sure that the player would even want it.

After all, that's quite an incredible step back after everything. An admittance of defeat, really.

Not that he'd be the first. The parallels with Michael Owen are incredible - an academy product lured by Real Madrid, who didn't break into the starting XI, and then wanted a return before getting anywhere near the end of his contract there.

Owen ultimately didn't get that return as Liverpool couldn't afford him. He had to settle for Newcastle United, though did hold out hope of eventually returning to Anfield.

Alexander-Arnold might actually get his wish, though. Liverpool need a right-back. Real Madrid need to shed a right-back. The player needs to play where he knows he can thrive.

All signs do point to Anfield, admittedly.