Trent Alexander-Arnold Takes Iconic Real Madrid Players' Squad Number Along with Name Change

Trent Alexander-Arnold has been unveiled as a new Real Madrid player and impressed the world with his Spanish-speaking skills.

Whilst he has clearly been putting plenty of thought into the move when it comes to settling into Spanish life, the England international has also been forced to consider his personal branding.

At Liverpool, Alexander-Arnold has become synonymous with the No.66 shirt, but he is not allowed to wear that for Real Madrid. La Liga rules dictate that the senior players must have numbers between 1 and 25, with only youth players not included in the initial 'A' squad exempt from this rule.

The only numbers available to Alexander-Arnold were 12 and 18, with 1, 13 and 25 reserved for goalkeepers. He has opted to wear the No. 12 shirt, meaning he follows in the footsteps of one of Real Madrid's greatest-ever defenders.

🗣️🇪🇸 Señor Alexander-Arnold#WelcomeTrent pic.twitter.com/tYmH1RGW4O
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) June 12, 2025

Brazilian left-back Marcelo wore the No.12 when he played for Real Madrid, and he won a staggering 25 trophies in the process. Eduardo Camavinga actually had that shirt when he first signed, but he switched to the more traditional midfielder's number of 6 once Nacho Fernandez had departed.

That change of shirt number for Alexander-Arnold has also led to a change of his social media branding, with his Instagram handle being changed from @trent66 to just @trent.

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