Football star Trent Alexander-Arnold reveals heartache over sick abuse from trolls

The England star has opened up for the first time about being booed on his return to Anfield after leaving boyhood club – but still watches every game

Trent Alexander-Arnold has laid bare the scale of abuse he received after leaving Liverpool but says he will always love his boyhood club and watches every game.

The England star has opened up for the first time about his acrimonious departure to Real Madrid last year including being booed on his return to Anfield.

He says there was a difference between supporters expressing their fury inside a football stadium and the “stuff that crossed the line”.

He said: “Abuse online and threats made via social DMs or in other ways are a sad part of life in 2026 if you’re in the public eye and doing things that create a lot of attention.

“I choose to keep those things away from me because they don’t feel real.”

He adds: “I can rationalise that by knowing it’s not representative of a football club I love, LFC, and it’s not representative of my home city.”

The right-back returned to Anfield last November for a Champions League match in which they lost 1-0. Alexander-Arnold was jeered by fans when he was introduced from the bench in the 80th minute, as well as during the warm-up.

He said: “The booing and disappointment from Liverpool supporters is something I’m absolutely able to shoulder. I can understand it, in my own way.

“I heard a lot during that period that Liverpool fans didn’t want to be told how to feel or think, and I agree. But I hope one day there’ll be a degree of understanding about the decisions I wanted to make around my own life.

“It hurts because of how much I’ve put into the club over the course of 20 years and the sacrifices I made for the club during that period. So of course it hurts, but I understand the disappointment. I even understand anger expressed through booing.”

As well as anger inside the stadium, the word “rat” was repeatedly daubed over a mural celebrating Alexander-Arnold nearby.

The football ace was sent the image by a friend, and it weighed on him when he returned to the city for the match.

“Going back to Liverpool after everything that’s happened it was on my mind,” he says, adding that his family were also left upset.

“If I’m honest, if something affects me and upsets me, it shows in my family as well. They are in it with me…we’re together.”

Alexander-Arnold found the whole day hard to process.

He admits: “Even from the outset, even the thought of going into the away changing room was strange. I’d never actually stepped foot in there before.”

The football star believes the wider impact of online abuse is a serious issue, although one he feels ultimately needs to be addressed by politicians and technology companies.

Alexander-Arnold, who has also previously suffered abhorrent racist abuse online, said: “On threats to people via social media, social media pile-ons and the impact they can have on people’s mental health, I think that’s a proper topic.

“But it’s for governments and tech companies to solve. I’ve kind of protected myself from that as much as possible, but I get that for some people it’s not possible.”

Alexander-Arnold has found reassurance in the stark difference between the vitriol directed at him online and the reception he receives when he actually returns to Merseyside.

“Since leaving for Real Madrid, I’ve been back to Liverpool to visit family on a number of occasions,” he said.

“I’ve bumped into lots of fellow Scousers and Reds when I’ve been on my travels. Not a single interaction I’ve had in person reflects the sort of stuff you get online or via social media.

“So that helps me disassociate it.

“This isn’t me saying everyone in Liverpool is fine with me leaving the club. Of course they aren’t. But that’s very different from the stuff that goes beyond the football.

“It’s why I don’t allow myself to get too down about it and I don’t dwell on it.”

The intensity of the reaction reflected Alexander-Arnold’s unique relationship with Liverpool.

A local boy who joined the academy aged six, he rose through the ranks to play 259 times for the club.

Yet for all the bitterness surrounding his departure, Alexander-Arnold’s own feelings towards Liverpool appear strikingly unchanged.

“I still watch every game,” he said.

“I support them. I want to see them do well. I enjoy watching them, and there will always be a place in my heart for Liverpool, no matter what.

“It is home to me. It’s the place that gave me the opportunities to go and do what I’ve done and I will always love it. It’s always a place that I’ll call home.”