Trent Alexander-Arnold has endured a difficult start to the season at Real Madrid, leading to rumors of a return to Liverpool, although Jose Mourinho has just handed him an unexpected lifeline

Jose Mourinho has insisted it “hurts” him to not play Trent Alexander-Arnold as the former Liverpool vice-captain has been thrown an unexpected lifeline.

Alexander-Arnold’s future at Real Madrid has come into sharp focus this season, with the 28-year-old struggling for game time since Mourinho returned as manager at the Bernabeu.

After an injury-hit first season in the Spanish capital, Alexander-Arnold has found himself out of favor at the start of his second campaign with the club. Having fallen behind summer signing Denzel Dumfries in the pecking order at right-back, the England international’s situation only seemed to worsen recently, with Fede Valverde having been preferred ahead of both players in recent games.

Despite looking as though he may have fallen to third-choice, Alexander-Arnold was somewhat surprisingly handed a start on Sunday as Real took on Racing Santander, aiming to keep pace with La Liga leader Barcelona after winning at the Camp Nou last week.

Speaking ahead of his side’s game, Mourinho was asked about the speculation surrounding Alexander-Arnold, with the Portuguese responding: "To begin with, it hurts me.

"I don't like giving bad feelings to players, I prefer them to feel good. When you build a squad with two players per position and end up playing a third, it's not something I appreciate.

"But there are things more important than these feelings, things that matter more for the team at a given moment. I felt we needed to change our midfield and play Fede in that position. It was a decision made for the team, not based on individual players."

Mourinho added: "Trent and Dumfries accepted my explanations well. They understood that this choice was made in the interest of the collective and was not aimed at anyone. Against Barcelona, circumstances meant that Dumfries played and Trent also had a few minutes."

The Real boss then went on to hint at Alexander-Arnold’s return to the starting line-up, telling reporters: "Tomorrow, Valverde will not start. It will be one of the other two."

Having been restored to the line-up, Alexander-Arnold may have renewed hope that he can still secure a regular spot in Mourinho’s side - although it remains to be seen whether he’ll stay in his plans going forward.

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Alexander-Arnold’s surprise return comes after growing rumors of a return to Liverpool, with the prospect having been given the backing of a number of pundits, including Jamie Carragher.

“I’d have him back anyway,” the former Reds defender said on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet.

“Give him plenty of stick... I think he made a mistake, I do. I think he made a big mistake.

“But, as I said, if something benefits Liverpool Football Club going forward… and we do have, when you think of the problems Liverpool have in terms of the right-back. Ronnie (Ronald Araujo) has been fantastic, and I agree with you, but we do have a problem in terms of fullbacks passing. We’ve definitely missed his creativity.”