At 27 years of age, he still has plenty of football left in him at the very highest level. Will much of that be spent proving his worth to a demanding fan base in the Spanish capital, or could steps be retraced to his homeland?
Asked if both those boxes could be ticked, fellow Merseyside native Warnock – who was speaking on behalf of Gambler Media – told GOAL: “Yeah, quite possibly. I think the thing with Trent is that he doesn’t have to necessarily rely on pace in his game. He’s got that ability on the ball just to pick passes.
“Whether you’d see him actually move into a centre-midfield position later on in his career, to be able to play that. I think when you listen to him and when you see him at the moment, he seems very happy.
“I think he realises that at Real Madrid he is going to have to fight for his place, and that’s going to be difficult. But he’ll trust his ability. He’s had doubters all his career, which is incredible because of the level that he plays to.”
Warnock added on future transfers: “I think the only time I could see him coming back is if Liverpool came back in for him. I don’t really see him playing for anyone else.
“But I feel like Trent’s one of those people that would probably go somewhere else, maybe in Italy or something like that. I think he’s that type of personality where he’d like to test himself in life and move to different places.”