While Xabi Alonso had some good ideas for Real Madrid when he first came in as the manager, it did not take long for the team to sour on him and for the rest of the front office to bristle at some of the suggestions he made for signings. While he was right about Real needing a deep lying playmaker and more midfield help, a lot of the names he brought up for Real were nonsensical or poor fits.
According to a new report from ESPN's Rodra, via the Madrid Zone, we now know of another player Alonso suggested for Real Madrid, and this one may be the worst idea yet. Whereas Martin Zubimendi had a La Liga pedigree and at least made sense as a controller, apparently Alonso also wanted Real to go after AC Milan attacking midfielder Tijjani Reijnders.
The Dutch international ended up joining Premier League giants Manchester City, and whereas attacking playmaker Rayan Cherki has been an unsurprising revelation for the Citizens at a bargain of a price (by the way, remember when Zinedine Zidane scouted him for Madrid seven years ago?), Reijnders has been the worst flop of the season for Man City.
Tijjani Reijnders has been terrible for Manchester City
Reijnders has been so bad that Manchester City have basically phased him out. He has not been able to match the speed of play in the Premier League. He gets overrun defensively, can't beat players, and struggles without the cavernous spaces he got in transition at Milan.
Especially for the way Xabi Alonso was playing and for the types of organized blocks Real Madrid face in La Liga, Tijjani Reijnders would have been arguably an even worse fit for Real than he has proven to be for Manchester City in the 2025/26 season.
Real Madrid did not listen to Alonso's suggestion of Reijnders, and fans should be happy about that. The Franco Mastantuono deal has been bad enough, but at least Mastantuono is a prospect with futureu upside and can play as a left footed right winger against certain opponents. Reijnders would have been redundant and worse than all the playmakers Real Madrid currently have; he would have just eaten into the minutes Arda Guler would be getting as an elite playmaking force.
One of Alonso's biggest problems at Real Madrid was that he has no experience managing an elite club. He didn't understand how to manage the personalities in the dressing room, but he also didn't understand the quality of player he should be scouting for Real. The Reijnders report reenforces that weakness.