Mourinho Urged to Redraw Alexander-Arnold's Role at Madrid

Trent Alexander-Arnold has barely unpacked his bags in Madrid and already the debate has started: right-back or right midfield, defender or creator, full-back or the new David Beckham?

For former Manchester United and Scotland defender Phil Bardsley, the answer is clear. If José Mourinho really wants to unlock Alexander-Arnold’s ceiling at Real Madrid, he has to move him further up the pitch.

Bardsley sees a player whose attacking gifts are too rich to be chained to the back line. The crossing, the range of passing, the vision under pressure – all the traits that made Alexander-Arnold such a weapon at Liverpool, but also exposed his flaws when isolated defensively.

So Bardsley would redraw the map.

He argues that the England international should operate on the right of midfield, not as a modern flying winger, but as a specialist supplier – a Beckham-style quarterback hugging that flank, shaping games with the ball at his feet. In a Madrid side loaded with pace and movement, he believes the fit is obvious.

The template is Beckham’s own reinvention in Spain. No longer the pure wide man of his early United days, Beckham evolved into a deep-lying creator on the right, dictating tempo and feeding runners. Bardsley can see Alexander-Arnold stepping into that same corridor of influence, with even more chaos ahead of him to aim at.

The targets are elite. Kylian Mbappé. Vinícius Júnior. Endless, ruthless runners in behind. In Bardsley’s eyes, if you give Alexander-Arnold the ball in space and those options ahead of him, the outcome is predictable: chances, and plenty of them. He insists the conversation around the 25-year-old has become too obsessed with what he lacks without the ball rather than what he can do with it.

Defensive lapses, yes. But also a right foot that can pick out a sprinting forward from 50 yards as if he’s ten yards away.

Bardsley does not see this as a route back to England or to Old Trafford. He openly doubts any scenario in which Alexander-Arnold ends up in a Manchester United shirt. For him, the Beckham comparison is about role, not club. The Real Madrid shirt, the white of the Bernabéu, is where he imagines this next act unfolding.

Mourinho, of course, sits at the heart of the discussion. The Portuguese coach has never been shy about reshaping players to suit his plans, and Bardsley is convinced he will study Alexander-Arnold’s profile and carve out something tailored, something different. A position that maximises time on the ball, minimises exposure in pure one‑v‑one defensive situations, and turns that passing radar into a primary weapon.

While the tactical arguments swirl outside, Alexander-Arnold is already living the reality of Mourinho’s world inside Valdebebas.

Pre-season in Madrid is biting hard. Heat, double sessions, a workload designed to test and harden. The defender has described it as intense, exactly what he and his teammates expected as they prepare for a season of scrutiny and silverware demands.

“So far, so good. It’s hot and very intense. We’re in preseason, and that’s what we expected,” he said through the club’s official channels, offering a glimpse into the grind behind the glamour.

On Mourinho himself, the respect is obvious. Alexander-Arnold has admired him from afar, faced him from the other side of the technical area, and now calls it a pleasure to work under him and his staff.

The stage is set: a coach who thrives on control, a player built to create, and a club that demands both style and success. Whether Mourinho keeps Alexander-Arnold at right-back or shifts him into that Beckham lane on the right of midfield will shape not only his own evolution, but the rhythm of Madrid’s attack.

If Bardsley is right, the Bernabéu might soon be watching a familiar script in a new era – a number not on the shirt, but on the right flank, bending games to his will.