Beckham tips Alexander-Arnold for Real Madrid success and insists England must take him to the World Cup | OneFootball

David Beckham has backed Trent Alexander-Arnold to become a success at Real Madrid and believes the defender should go to the World Cup with England.

Alexander-Arnold has had a mixed time since his high-profile transfer from Liverpool to Real Madrid last summer and was excluded from Thomas Tuchel's latest England squad in March.

The strengths and weaknesses of Alexander-Arnold were evident during Real Madrid's 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich in theChampions League on Tuesday night.

The 27-year-old lost the run of former Liverpool teammate Luis Diaz for the opening goal, but redeemed himself with a brilliant cross to set up Kylian Mbappe's reply for Real Madrid. That goal has given the Spanish side a lifeline ahead of next week's second leg.

Beckham made a similar switch in his career after joining Real Madrid from Manchester United in 2003.

The former England captain has given his verdict on the debate around the defender, and said he would find it 'very hard' to leave Alexander-Arnold out of this summer's World Cup squad.

"I'm a massive fan of Trent Alexander-Arnold, I love Trent as a player," Beckham said totalkSPORT.

"I've heard so many times over the years when he was at Liverpool, when he's at Madrid, when he's playing for England, about, 'Well, he's not as good at defending as he is attacking'... Well, sometimes you have to accept that."

"Roberto Carlos was an unbelievable defender, but he was also unbelievable going forward. He'd always go forward, and then we'd have to cover him, so those kind of things you expect. But with Trent, would I take him? I'd find it very hard not to take someone like Trent."

When explaining Alexander-Arnold's England snub last month, Thomas Tuchel refused to rule out a place in the squad for the right-back, but admitted others are 'just ahead of him' at present.

“It is a very hard decision,” Tuchel said.

“He took it on his chin. He will keep on going. I will make sure that I see some matches from Real Madrid, maybe (in the) Champions League, to get my last impressions.

“He’s on the long list and everyone is still in the mix, but at the moment, some other guys are just ahead of him.”