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.

Xabi Alonso praised the impact of Real Madrid's new signings, including debutant Franco Mastantuono, after the team beat Osasuna 1-0 in their opening game of the LaLiga season on Tuesday.

That performance earned high praise from Xabi Alonso. "I feel like he wants even more, you can see it on the pitch. I don't know if it's because of the number 10, but it's obvious," the Spanish coach