Mbappé leads the farewell tributes as Xabi Alonso exits Madrid
Kylian Mbappé was first to publicly thank departing Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, while several teammates took their time to post social media tributes.
The surprise departure of Xabi Alonso from Real Madrid caught players off guard, with Kylian Mbappé leading the tributes to the outgoing boss.
Mbappé first to the party
When news broke of Alonso’s exit via the club’s official statement, it was the French superstar who reacted quickest with a heartfelt Instagram post. Mbappé thanked the coach for his confidence and praised his clear football philosophy – proper class from the lad who’s clearly built a strong relationship with Alonso in their brief time together.
The timing was telling. While Mbappé wasted no time showing his appreciation, several other Madrid stars were noticeably slower off the mark. By midnight, a handful of players including Vinicius, Militão, Trent, Mendy, Bellingham, Brahim (busy with Morocco at AFCON, to be fair) and Mastantuono had still not posted public farewells.
The Turkish delight’s touching tribute
Arda Güler followed Mbappé’s lead with perhaps the most emotional message of the lot, thanking Alonso for believing in him from day one. The young Turkish talent credited the coach with taking his game to another level – no small praise from one of Europe’s brightest prospects.
Cascade of farewells
The floodgates opened as more Madrid players joined the farewell parade:
- Tchouaméni praised learning from “one of the best”
- Ceballos shared a touching photo embracing his manager
- Courtois and Lunin both wished him future success
- Rodrygo thanked him for daily guidance and confidence
The responses varied in warmth and length:
- Carvajal, the captain, kept it brief with just “Thanks for everything, boss”
- Camavinga spoke of learning and respect
- Alaba expressed gratitude for their time together
The absentees
What’s interesting is who took their sweet time to post – or hadn’t posted at all by the article’s publication. Some of Madrid’s biggest stars, including Vini Jr and Bellingham, were among those yet to publicly acknowledge Alonso’s departure.
Whether this reflects genuine sentiment or just social media habits is anyone’s guess, but in the bubble of Madrid politics, these things don’t go unnoticed. Bit of a liberty not to post something when your gaffer’s walking out the door, innit?
By the end, almost the entire squad had eventually shared public goodbyes to Alonso, though the timing and warmth of these messages perhaps tells its own story about the complex relationships within the Bernabéu dressing room.