Real Madrid has already signed a replacement for under fire head coach Carlo Ancelotti according to Spanish journalist Paco Gonzalez, who cited an anonymous source while appearing on local radio station COPE and its popular El Partidazo program.
Ancelotti and Madrid are in a slump. Losing 2-1 to Valencia in La Liga at the Bernabeu on the weekend, Los Blancos were then thrashed 3-0 by Arsenal in north London on Tuesday as part of the first installment of a Champions League quarterfinal.
Madrid has a mountain to climb in the decider at home a week from now, though if its anyone that can overcome such a deficit in the elite competition, look no further than the 15-time record winners and defending champions of the big-eared trophy.
It’s clear for anyone to see that Madrid isn’t the same team that won an unprecedented treble last season, however. Though it is still in line for three major trophies, the Super Cup has been ceded to bitter rival FC Barcelona, who it also lost 4-0 to in La Liga in October.
There have been plenty of other deflating losses too, and it has recently been reported by SPORT that President Florentino Perez and the Italian will meet for a talk between the Champions League final in Munich on May 31 and the Club World Cup which kicks off in the United States a fortnight later.
According to an anonymous source that liased with Paco Gonzalez, however, Perez has already decided Ancelotti’s future because Bayer Leverkusen tactician Xabi Alonso “is signed”.
"I have no idea," Gonzalez confessed. "But there are people who consider it super signed."
This isn’t the first time that Alonso has been linked to the Spanish capital giant, which is also a former employer from his playing days.
In the summer of 2024, he was expected to join either Liverpool or Madrid - both of whom he once featured in midfield for - only to sign a contract extension as Leverkusen closed in on its first ever Bundesliga.
With Arne Slot later joining the Reds, who have one hand on the Premier League title, Madrid pretty much has a free run at the Basque.
As for Ancelotti, his contract expires on June 30, 2026, and he is once more being linked to the now vacant Br azil national team spot.