Real Madrid announces Xabi Alonso as its new coach

After saying goodbye to Carlo Ancelotti on Saturday afternoon, Real Madrid hasn't waited more than 24 hours to finally announce its new coach. It was an open secret, hinted at by Ancelotti himself, Dani Carvajal , and several members of the first team and the club over the past few weeks, but now it's official. Xabi Alonso is the new manager of the Whites. The Tolosarra native has signed for the next three seasons, until June 2028. He will be presented this Monday and will begin his time in charge of Real Madrid by leading the team in the Club World Cup , which begins on June 14 in the United States.

After three seasons at Bayer Leverkusen , with a Bundesliga , a Cup and a German Super Cup that have made him the best coach in the history of the German team, the Basque coach announced his farewell to Leverkusen just a few days ago, already aware of his future as Madrid coach.

The Whites have remained officially silent in recent weeks, despite having been working with Alonso on the squad's short- and medium-term plans behind closed doors. Madrid didn't even issue a statement after Ancelotti announced he would be Brazil's manager. They remained silent until Friday, when they announced that the match against Real Madrid would be the Italian's last. There was still no sign of Alonso until today, when, with the La Liga season over, the club finally decided to make it official.

Alonso arrives after six seasons as a coach, three at Real Sociedad , which he promoted to the Second Division, and another three at Leverkusen, where he has fought Bayern in two Bundesliga titles and won one.

The Basque player will return to the Bernabéu, which was his home for five seasons, between 2009 and 2014, and wearing the shirt he played 236 matches in. His trophy cabinet includes a tenth European Cup, two Cups, one La Liga title, one Spanish Super Cup, and one European Super Cup.

Xabi will join a squad that is already struggling after an inconsistent season, which saw him lift only the European Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup . Luka Modric and Lucas Vázquez will still be available for the Club World Cup, but both will leave the club after the tournament. In the United States, the Basque national team also plans to bring in Dean Huijsen , the first signing of the summer, and Trent Alexander-Arnold , the latter of whom is still awaiting official announcements.

It's in his hands to rebuild an exhausted team, both morally and physically, and to get an attack playing and enjoying itself that, despite Mbappé's Golden Boot , hasn't been at the level of previous years, with versions of Vinicius and Bellingham far from their best. He'll have to work on the development of young players like Camavinga, Güler, and Endrick , and he'll have to rebuild the defense, hampered by injuries this season.