Xabi Alonso was happy to renew his contract with Real Sociedad until 2022 this week, extending his deal until the summer of 2022 to ward off links with Borussia Monchengladbach. His ambition is to achieve promotion with Sanse, La Real’s B team, from the Segunda B to the Segunda.
“I’m very happy and satisfied with how things are going and the fact that the club and I understand each other so well,” he said as per Marca. “We want to continue helping with this project and ensuring there are better prepared players for the first team.
“All experiences contribute, and these have been two very enriching years for myself, the club and the project that’s here, it’s very attractive.
“Being involved in that last step before the first team, being able to help in pushing the players to earn promotion is a great satisfaction that makes me very proud and a participant of the great work being done in Zubieta. Being able to help them is a great comfort to me.”
Himself a product of La Real’s youth system, Alonso earned promotion to the first team in 2000, but had to spend a season on loan at Eibar to really earn his spot.
From there he joined Liverpool in 2004, spending five years at Anfield before joining Real Madrid, where he played for another five years. The final three years of his career were spent at Bayern Munich.
Alonso won practically all there is to win as a player. He won the Champions League with both Liverpool and Madrid, as well as domestic titles in both Spain in Germany. As an international, the Basque won Euro 2008 and 2012 as well as the 2010 World Cup.
Half a season at Eibar, to be strictly correct.