Trent Alexander-Arnold explains why 'amazing' Real Madrid dressing room surprised him - 'They made me feel at home'
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Updated 27/06/2025 at 09:05 GMT+1
Trent Alexander-Arnold said he had his "best game" as a Real Madrid player in Thursday's 3-0 win over RB Salzburg. The result sealed the Spanish side's progress to the FIFA Club World Cup knockout stages as group winners, and their new recruit was full of praise for the way he has been welcomed since his move from Liverpool. "They made me feel at home straight away," he said.
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Trent Alexander-Arnold praised his new Real Madrid team-mates and coach Xabi Alonso for making him "feel at home straight away," but insists the "settlement period is now done."
The England star ended his career-long spell at Liverpool to join the Spanish giants during the mini-transfer window ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup.
He was thrust straight into action, starting all three of Real’s group games as they topped their section to set up a last 16 clash with Juventus.
Speaking after Thursday’s 3-0 win over RB Salzburg, which sealed their progress, Alexander-Arnold was effusive in his praise for his new colleagues.
"Every player is impressing me. From when I played against Real Madrid, [I knew] all the players are world-class," he said.
"But just the way the lads are; when you come in, you expect it to be very intimidating, you don’t know what to expect.
"But it was very warm, very welcoming, they made me feel at home straight away, which was amazing. It allows me to play as well as I can and today, coming into the game, I was confident to go and perform.
"The settlement period now is done, and it’s about kicking on and being the best player that I can be and giving the best for the team and helping the team win as many games as possible, starting with this competition."
One thing that appears to have eased the transition to a new club and football culture was Alexander-Arnold’s efforts to learn Spanish in advance.
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The right-back impressed by speaking in Spanish at his presentation press conference, but explained that he is still working on fine-tuning his communication skills.
"Of course, speaking and being a part of the conversation is harder. You work hard to try and understand what people are saying and be a part of it," he said.
"But the manager speaks to me a lot individually to make sure I understand everything that gets said.
"The meetings are in Spanish, so he goes out of his way and the staff go out of their way to make sure I understand the game plan. So there are differences, but it’s just football."
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'Best game I've had'
Alexander-Arnold started in a more advanced role as a right wing-back against Salzburg as Alonso experimented with a back three in a 3-5-2 formation.
The move paid off as Vinicius Junior, Federico Valverde and Gonzalo Garcia found the net in a comfortable win over the Austrians.
"Everyone’s got to get used to it. It worked, clearly, so that’s a good start, but obviously we have a lot of work to do," said Alexander-Arnold.
"It wasn’t a perfect game, but good signs. It was our best game so far as a team. It was the best game I’ve had. It seemed to click out there. We had a game plan.
"It was our aim to top the group. We are unbeaten and three goals and a clean sheet is a good confidence boost going into the round of 16."
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On former Liverpool midfielder Alonso’s coaching, he added: "The way he can adapt to different teams [is impressive]. We changed the system in a short space of time and the way he gets his messages across means it’s very clear, and we can understand perfectly what we need to do as individuals and as a team.
"When he joins in in training, you can see he’s still got high, high quality, which is amazing. I grew up watching him, and he’s not lost any quality at all. He could still lace them up and get out there with us if he wanted to, he’s still that good."
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