After cutting his managerial teeth with Real Sociedad’s reserve team, Alonso moved to Germany and broke Bayern Munich’s 11-year stranglehold on the Bundesliga.
Leading Leverkusen to their first league title convinced Real president Florentino Perez that Alonso – who made 236 appearances for Los Blancos between 2009 and 2014 – is ready to return and reinvigorate a tired team.
And Perez is not alone in that view. Former Real and Spain winger Victor Sanchez del Amo is among those greatly impressed – but not particularly surprised – by Alonso’s exploits to date.
Del Amo points out that Alonso played under an array of the modern era’s greatest coaches: Ancelotti and Jose Mourinho at Real; Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich; Rafa Benitez at Liverpool; Vicente del Bosque and Luis Aragones with the Spanish national team.
“Xabi has learned from some of the best coaches in history, so he can take all their ideas and mix them together,” he told BBC Sport.
“He also had a strong influence at home during his childhood, because his father Periko was a great player for Real Sociedad.
“Even as a player, you knew Xabi would become a manager because he was like a coach on the pitch.”
However, there is also a warning – success is expected to come instantly.
“For Real Madrid, every title is important,” warned Del Amo, who came through Real’s youth ranks to win La Liga and the Champions League before becoming a legend at Deportivo La Coruna, taking another league title in 2000.
“Real is the club with the most international titles in the world. Every time they play a competition, the target is to win it. It’s a very difficult club.
“Already in Spain they are saying there’s a bad omen for Xabi because you have to go back to Del Bosque [who led Real to the Champions League in 2002] to find a successful Spanish coach at the Bernabeu.
“So they are putting that kind of pressure on him.”
Leading his team to a world title might sound like an unfair demand on a new manager just a handful of weeks after his arrival. But at Real Madrid, handling those expectations is part of the job.
