Courtois reveals why Alexander-Arnold is ‘horrible’ to train against

Trent Alexander-Arnold has wasted little time in making his impression felt at Real Madrid since joining from Liverpool, with Thibaut Courtois already complaining about having to face the right back in training. 

Alexander-Arnold moved to the Spanish capital ahead of the start of the Club World Cup, with Los Blancos paying £8.4million for his services early, rather than letting him join for free after the competition. 

Despite a steady first game in the iconic white shirt in the 1-1 draw with Al-Hilal, the right back’s assist in the 1-0 win over Juventus in the last 16 has technically already covered the cost of his transfer. 

His cross set up Gonzalo Garcia – who is fast making a name for himself in the United States – to head home the only goal of the game, and earn £10m in prize money for making the quarters. 

But it’s not just on the pitch that he’s made his mark at Real, with former Chelsea and Atletico goalkeeper Courtois describing him as ‘horrible’ to train against. 

Speaking to DAZN, he said: ‘I think he could have already had a few in these four games. His pre-assist against Pachuca was also really good.

‘In training he’s horrible, his kicking is amazing. His free-kicks, his corner kicks are really on another level.’

He added: ‘I don’t think I saw some guy with his quality of kicking and crossing so as a goalkeeper sometimes it’s a nightmare. 

‘But it keeps you on edge and keeps you working hard, trying to save them, to make him better and myself better.’

The win over Juventus takes Real’s overall prize money from the competition to around £53m. 

They will now take on Borussia Dortmund in a replay of the Champions League final at Wembley in 2024, which Real won 2-0, for a chance to make the semi-finals. 

Fellow recent Real arrival Xabi Alonso, though, has faith in his new star, though added there was still room for improvement across the board for his team. 

He said: ‘Trent? I believe in him. He still needs time, but he’s an amazing player.

‘Crossing is his trademark; he’s done 500 of those. On the right, we sometimes need an extra foot. One-on-one dribbling isn’t his thing. He comes to Madrid to compete; he’s barely trained. Everything takes time.’

Alonso added: ‘Everything takes time, but I’m confident we’ll have a reliable full back. First, we have to improve as a team.’