But listen to the way Xabi Alonso spoke about Alex Grimaldo throughout Bayer Leverkusen’s invincible title-winning season — when he provided 10 goals and 13 assists in the Bundesliga from his high-flying wing-back role — and it would be fair to assume that the Spaniard was top of the class.

Madrid have already backed Alonso with over €100million spent on Dean Huijsen, young Franco Mastantuono and Trent Alexander-Arnold, having stumped up a fee to re

Real Madrid have eased into the Xabi Alonso era pretty well. After a draw in Alonso's first game in charge, Los Blancos have picked up back-to-back wins against