#4 Xabi Alonso – Real Sociedad, Liverpool and Real Madrid
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Moving to a new football club after spending quite some time at one can be tough for players but not for a certain Xabi Alonso, who has maintained produced superior quality football wherever he has gone. A Basque province boy, Alonso was a part of the Real Sociedad’s youth team before moving to their senior team in 2000. Despite being really young, Xabi Alonso was handed the captain’s armband by manager John Toshack and the move paid off.
There was an alteration in management in the coming years but Alonso’s position stayed put and with him being the midfield mainstay, Sociedad finished second in the league 2002-03 season. This performance propelled them to qualify for the UEFA Champions Legaue for the first time. The club succumbed to pressure of European football in the next season but Alonso continued to put in strong performances and stayed committed to Sociedad despite interest from a lot of sides including Real Madrid.
After making over 120 appearances for Sociedad, Alonso moved to Liverpool in 2004 and his qualities as a player started to show immediately. Alonso, alongside compatriot Luis Garcia and Liverpool’s talismanic skipper Steven Gerrard, ushered a new era at Anfield under the management of Rafa Benitez. They flourished in Europe and won the 2004-05 UEFA Champions League in his first season by beating AC Milan on that “Night in Istanbul.” Alonso, in fact, culminated Liverpool’s resurgence in the final by scoring the goal that levelled proceedings at 3-3.
He continued to flourish at Anfield and Alonso’s partnership with Gerrard became the mainstay of Liverpool’s gameplay. However, much against his wishes, Alonso was sold to Real Madrid in 2010, much to the delight of the Santiago Bernabeu outfit. Alonso’s time at Real Madrid, for whom he made 158 league appearances, was a fruitful one as he helped Los Merengues to win the La Liga title in 2011-12 season and the much-awaited 10th European Cup (La Decima) in 2013-14.
For some odd reason, he was deemed surplus to requirements at Real Madrid and was sold to Bayern Munich in 2014. Alonso has produced quality wherever he has gone and is continuing the same at Bayern Munich, a club that too will crown him a legend when he leaves/retires.
