When Xabi Alonso was first announced as the new Real Madrid manager, a number of changes were expected to take place to move on from the old ways of Carlo Ancelotti and usher in the new era under a new manager.
And those changes started taking place on day one. Changes in philosophy and tactics were noticeable from the start, shortly followed by changes with the sqaud. A number new players were brought it who fit Xabi Alonso's vision, while some older players of the old generation saw their time at the club come to an end.
Xabi Alonso architected a complete overhaul of the backline, bringing in Alvaro Carreras, Dean Huijsen, and Trent Alexander-Arnold as he began molding the squad to fit his vision for the future.
However, there was one other requested signing that Xabi Alonso made, as he viewed it as a crucial weak point within the squad but the club seemed to disagree at the time, and that is now coming back to bite them.
Real Madrid now realize Xabi Alonso was right with this transfer demand
As being reported by Marca (via Madrid Xtra on X) during Xabi Alonso's first meeting with the club back in May of 2025 he told the board that he needed to sign a creative, tempo controlling midfielder who is good on the baller similar to Toni Kroos and the response from the club was a big NO...but now, seven months later the club is starting to see that he was right all along.
We all know just how crucial Toni Kroos was to all the success at Real Madrid for more than the last decade, and after his retirement following the 2023/24 season Real Madrid needed to sign a similar profile player if they wished to keep up that amount of success, but they failed to do that and that showed last season.
And Xabi Alonso saw that, and made that his first priority because he knew of the importance of that kind of player for Real Madrid, but the club seemed to think otherwise, deciding to strengthen other areas of the squad. And while that may prove beneficial, the decision to not sign a midfielder is what could cost Real Madrid the most this season.
Xabi Alonso didn't get his creative, tempo-controlling midfielder this summer, but fortunately for him, he will be getting one next summer with the highly anticipated return of Nico Paz. The Argentine has arguably been the best player in Serie A this season, prompting Real Madrid to activate their €8 million buy-back clause, finally giving Xabi Alonso the final piece he needs to complete his unbeatable squad.
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