In response, club president Florentino Perez hired Alonso and sanctioned around €180million (£155m; $210.5m) to be spent on new players, including defenders Dean Huijsen, Alvaro Carreras and Trent Alexander-Arnold, along with exciting young Argentine playmaker Franco Mastantuono.

Kylian Mbappe made sure that the Xabi Alonso era began with three points on Tuesday, as he won and scored a penalty in Real Madrid's 1-0 victory Osasuna at the Santiago Bernabeu.