Real Madrid hopes to have Xabi Alonso as their new manager at the start of next month’s Club World Cup.
According to sources, 43-year-old Alonso will be in Madrid from June 1st to June 18th to prepare the team for their opening Fifa match versus Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia in Miami.
Alonso, formerly of Real Madrid, Liverpool, and Spain’s national team, announced his departure from Bayer Leverkusen on Friday at the season’s end.
Though Alonso didn’t plan to join Real so soon, talks last week convinced the club to skip an interim manager before the Basque manager arrived.
Real Madrid will likely give manager Carlo Ancelotti a farewell at their last home game on May 25th against Real Sociedad.
Real Madrid haven’t officially announced Ancelotti’s exit or Alonso’s arrival.
Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 4-3 on Saturday, delivering a major blow to Real’s La Liga title defense. They now sit seven points behind with three games to go.
Months ago, Real Madrid initiated talks with Alonso, informing him he’d replace Ancelotti should the latter not continue.
A verbal agreement was finalized in March, with detailed negotiations commencing over the last fortnight.
Although his arrival schedule is uncertain, Real Madrid has informed him that he will take charge in the USA for the highly significant Club World Cup.
A Spanish club is also looking to finalize the signing of Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold before the Club World Cup begins.
Alonso had an understanding with Leverkusen: he could depart if one of his former teams (Liverpool, Bayern Munich, or Real Madrid) recruited him. Managing Liverpool has always been a career goal of his.
In his inaugural full season as a senior club manager last year, the ex-Liverpool star guided Leverkusen to a Bundesliga title and the German Cup without suffering a single defeat.
After five years with Liverpool, Alonso joined Real Madrid in 2009, playing there until 2014, then finished his career with three years at Bayern Munich until 2017.
Media speculation last month stated that Ancelotti expected to have more discussions about the Brazil coaching job before the June 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
In 2021, Ancelotti returned to Real Madrid and has since won three Champions League titles with the club.
This season, the 65-year-old Italian’s team only failed to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the third time in twelve seasons.