Galacticos Ambition
Last weekend, Real Madrid landed in the United States to begin their journey to the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, a tournament that president Florentino Perez initially boycotted but later became very interested in because of the huge prize money .
In Miami, just 4 days before the opening match against Al Hilal (2am on June 19) , Xabi Alonso had full personnel. Vinicius Junior, Arda Guler and goalkeeper Lunin joined the team after their duty with the national team.
Previously, two new recruits Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold got acquainted with the new team at the Valdebebas center. They only had one day of training under the direction of Alonso.
“A few people have sent me messages to congratulate me, they are all great teammates. I hope to get to know them soon ,” Huijsen said at his presentation. He is the most expensive central defender in Real Madrid’s history.
Then Alexander-Arnold was also introduced. “Some people call him Alexander, others Arnold... It's best to call him 'Trent', it's easier!” , the former Liverpool defender said of his nickname.
For Huijsen and Trent, it's a dream come true. The former wants to write the story Sergio Ramos experienced, while the latter is being guided by his close friend Jude Bellingham to quickly adapt to his surroundings.
These two new faces help strengthen Real Madrid's defense, after a season with too many problems.
Both are young and are expected to usher in a new era for the Bernabeu team. In other words, they are the foundations for building the new version of Galacticos 2.0, since Perez returned to the presidency.
Xabi Alonso is one of the faces that created the concept of Galacticos 2.0 in the summer of 2009, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, and Karim Benzema.
That version experienced a La Liga championship season with a record 100 points with Jose Mourinho, or the milestone of La Decima - the 10th Champions League title in Lisbon - with Carlo Ancelotti.
From his excellent role as a player, Alonso was affectionately nicknamed “Professor” Xabi. In the early stages, with the goal of winning the FIFA Club World Cup, he had the help of his friend and former teammate Luka Modric.
Alonso's challenge
As soon as La Liga 2024/25 ended, Real Madrid announced two important contracts Huijsen and Alexander-Arnold .
In theory, these two new signings significantly strengthen Real Madrid. Once the main players recover from injuries, Alonso will have a much stronger squad than in Ancelotti's final season.
Along with two new defenders, Alonso received a much improved Kylian Mbappe in the “number 9” role from his old teacher Ancelotti. The European Golden Shoe shows this value.
Besides, Arda Guler has matured thanks to Ancelotti's help in controlling his mentality. Bellingham is becoming more comprehensive and plays the role of a spiritual leader.
However, not everything has gone as Xabi Alonso would have liked: Real Madrid have not made any additions to the left wing, which was their weakest position last season, and have no support for Vinicius.
Real Madrid spent weeks discussing the signing of Alvaro Carreras , a former Manchester United youth player who played very well with Benfica.
Negotiations reached a deadlock, despite at one point appearing to be close to completion. As a result, Carreras travelled to the United States to play in the FIFA Club World Cup with Benfica without being a member of Los Blancos.
Plan B proposed by Xabi Alonso, his former student Alex Grimaldo at Bayer Leverkusen, was not met by Real Madrid officials.
Instead, Real Madrid focused on completing the deal for Franco Mastantuono - who only joined on August 14, when he turned 18.
With Ferland Mendy unable to recover, Xabi is forced to find a solution on the left flank between Fran Garcia and youngster Diego Aguado.
Fran Garcia has had a poor season both defensively and offensively. Meanwhile, Aguado is still an unknown quantity with only a few minutes of professional playing time.
Alonso's search for a solution to the left-wing problem plays a decisive role in his ambition to win the FIFA Club World Cup - a tournament with a prize fund of 1 billion USD.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/real-madrid-cach-mang-voi-xabi-alonso-tham-vong-galacticos-moi-2412245.html
Comment (0)