When Thomas Tuchel called Trent Alexander-Arnold to tell him he was out of September’s England squad, the German said he was conscious of the right-back having to adapt to a new life in Madrid, but still stressed another point. This was also a football decision.
Alexander-Arnold isn’t as settled as some of his right-back rivals, and Tuchel wants to see how Xabi Alonso uses him. The England manager knows he’s going to spend a lot of time watching Spanish football this season, and may well witness an interesting dynamic in the Champions League this week.
Atletico Madrid’s trip to Liverpool – before Real Madrid follow in November – will showcase it through Conor Gallagher. For the first time in history, all three of the big Spanish clubs feature an English player at the same time.
Madrid even have two, given that Alexander-Arnold has joined his close friend, Jude Bellingham.
Marcus Rashford has meanwhile gone to Barcelona after first discussing a move there as far back as 2019. This is a dream long achieved, even if reality is going to be a bit more challenging.
In a different era, maybe even at that time in 2019, such signings would have been a show of strength all-round.
It would be rightly said that England is now producing so much elite talent that they’re good enough for the Clasico two, for so long, the great white sharks at the top of the football food chain.
Madrid and Barcelona would meanwhile have proved they still have the clout to take the best of the Premier League, regardless of the competition’s power. Even the newly assertive champions, Liverpool, lost another star to Spain through Alexander-Arnold.
His return to Anfield in November could bring quite a reception, given the residual noise about that departure.
Except that this sub-plot is a lot more complicated than that.
These are actually signs of weakness, to a certain degree. Or, as some insiders put it, the situations of the English players in Spain actually reflect different types of difficulties – even crises – at their clubs and even LaLiga as a whole.
You only have to look at Alexander-Arnold, on the occasions he actually plays. He is described by sources as having started “very timidly”, with the warning that he’ll have to improve a lot to oust Dani Carvajal from the team.
There have already been quips over whether he was signed merely to keep Bellingham company. Such jibes are undercut by the fact that Alonso likes Alexander-Arnold. The manager knows his class.
Bellingham is one of the most valued players at Madrid, mind, both for his brilliant first season and since he is only behind Kylian Mbappe in terms of commercial appeal. Many of the club’s biggest deals involve Bellingham.
Such advertisements are the only place you can see him right now due to his summer operation, however, and that after a more muted second season. People are waiting for the great star to properly take the stage again.
That more muted second act is partly down to the evolution of Bellingham’s position, and that has involved a certain irony. The 22-year-old was initially signed to be Luka Modric’s long-term successor, but instead excelled in his first season as Karim Benzema’s successor… only for Madrid to now need a Modric again. They badly need that midfield controller.
Alonso insisted on such a player in the summer, but top target Martin Zubimendi had already long agreed a deal with Arsenal. This has been viewed with particular frustration at the top levels of the Bernabeu, because Zubimendi was considered such an obvious Madrid signing.
It was even anticipated that he could offer the extra satisfaction of usurping Rodri from the national team. There is instead intense aggravation that they missed out, especially with so few comparable players around.
If it’s obviously a stretch to describe this as a “crisis” for a club that won the Champions League in 2024 and was being lauded for its long-term recruitment, Madrid are at something of a crossroads.
The very appointment of Alonso represents a bold new direction, where the club is willing to invest in becoming an “ideology team” for the first time in their modern history. Alonso’s approach, put bluntly, is more associated with Barcelona.
Bellingham may now be expected to carry a different responsibility when he returns. That’s nevertheless tempered by the possibility that Alonso actually figures out a working system without him.
There was already a suggestion of that with England last week, as Tuchel’s side excelled with Morgan Rogers. The manager even spoke conspicuously about squad “behaviour” expectations amid growing murmurs regarding Bellingham’s “ego”.
If it’s all true, Bellingham is arguably at exactly the right club – in a good way. Madrid value that type of personality.
Gallagher has never been talked about in such terms, and Diego Simeone especially loves him for his humility. The midfielder, in the words of one source, “runs his b******s off” – exactly what the manager appreciates more than anything.
And yet that is exactly why Gallagher almost articulates a certain philosophical anguish at the club. Some within Atletico feel other midfielders are technically superior, and by some distance.
That has run parallel to the hierarchy’s long desire to move to a more modern approach, but they have found they can’t bring themselves to move against Simeone. Almost more than any individual in any comparable situation, the Argentine has restored Atletico as a force.
And yet that very strength may now be weighing them down, as questions again arise over his effect. It is described as a potential football crisis and political crisis.
Rashford has meanwhile been adapting to a strangely dysfunctional club that goes beyond all that. Barcelona continue to experience almost every problem conceivable, from ongoing financial challenges to the Negreira case.
The leadership’s very response to all of this has repeatedly been questioned, given the arguments they have potentially made these issues worse. Rashford’s signing illustrates some of this.
Barcelona wanted Nico Williams – and might have been in for Alexander Isak in a different era – but their financial pressures ensured they couldn’t do a suitable deal. They instead had to go for a cut-price option in Rashford, and that for a player who has obviously faced a few questions of his own.
Hansi Flick’s football even reflects this, as it constantly seems to teeter between chaos and brilliance in the biggest games.
They still have Lamine Yamal, after all. He is the best illustration of how LaLiga still has so many stars, including some of those from England.
Spain itself continues to produce exceptional players… except most of those now go the Premier League.
Strengths and weaknesses, that may be illustrated by this Champions League season more acutely than usual.
