Florentino Perez welcomes Xabi Alonso at Real Madrid – ‘Today you are returning home’ | OneFootball

After announcing his appointment on Sunday, Real Madrid presented Xabi Alonso as their new manager at the club facilities earlier today.

The former midfielder and club legend replaces Carlo Ancelotti at the helm of affairs, having signed a three-year contract until 2028.

Having tasted success at Bayer Leverkusen, Alonso will now be hoping to lead Real Madrid to great heights, starting with the FIFA Club World Cup coming up next month.

Florentino Perez welcomes Alonso

Alonso signed his contract with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and posed for pictures before the official presentation ceremony got underway.

After playing clips of the club icon’s best moments as a player at the Bernabeu and his stint as Leverkusen manager, Perez took centre stage and welcomed Alonso back to the club with a touching speech.

Kicking things off, the Real Madrid chief went on in detail about what it means to represent Real Madrid, saying:

“Madridismo is something that is nourished every day. Real Madrid belongs to the hearts of the people, because this crest represents those values that are worked on in this Ciudad del Real Madrid every day.

“The values that have been necessary to achieve a record that is difficult to match and to have, in recent years, one of the most successful periods in our history. The strength of this club is to continue working to make the dreams of this Madridismo come true.”

He then welcomed Alonso, saying: “That is why today is a very special day. A coach has arrived who is one of the best in the world and who knows what Real Madrid is, what this shirt means. Today, we welcome one of our own: Xabi Alonso.

Perez then went on to recount Alonso’s time at Real Madrid as a player and his achievements, while expressing hope that he can lead the team to great success as manager.

“Dear Xabi, welcome to your home, welcome to Real Madrid. I am sure that today you are living a very exciting moment. You showed it when you arrived in 2009 to defend this shirt. You won six titles that are already part of the history of Real Madrid,” he said.

“You are also one of the great legends of the Spanish national team, with whom you won the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships. But today you are returning home.”

Touching on his managerial career, Perez added: “We all knew what your destiny was going to be when you sat down in 2018 to coach the Infantil A team. You have achieved something that is already German football history: winning the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen.

“This path has made you one of the greatest figures in football and one of the best coaches in the world. Today, you return to Madrid as first-team coach to face one of the greatest challenges of your life.”