Xabi Alonso kicks off pre-season with a star-studded squad. While the club awaits any final departures that might open the door for a late midfield reinforcement, Real Madrid boast the most valuable roster in world football, according to Transfermarkt – a staggering $1.52bn (€1.397bn) in market value.
That treasure now lies in the hands of the man from Tolosa, who faces the challenge of getting his players match-ready in just 15 days.
No time – and no summer tour either. But everyone’s here. Or almost. The 2025–26 Madrid side returned to training on Monday in Valdebebas, the last La Liga club to get going. Thirty-three days after Celta – the earliest risers in Spain’s top division – began their own preparations. And 25 days behind Osasuna, Madrid’s opening opponent in the league. While the Pamplona side were getting into gear, Madrid were just landing back from their U.S. Club World Cup adventure.
This is Xabi Alonso’s first full project in charge, after that Club World Cup appetizer, and it’s forced to hit cruising speed from day one. The sprint began with a marathon of a day: medicals and gym work in the morning, followed by the first training session under a merciless sun in the afternoon. The temperature? 100.8°F (38.2°C), with the capital still sweltering in a heatwave. Just three absentees: injured trio Jude Bellingham, Endrick and Ferland Mendy, and Franco Mastantuono, who can’t join until August 14 when he turns 18.
A glittering addition for a luxury squad. Madrid’s 25-man roster is valued at $1.52bn (€1.397bn), making them the most valuable team in the world, ahead of state-backed giants like Manchester City and PSG, and US-investor-powered Premier League sides like Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal. Barcelona, by comparison, rank sixth at $1.23bn (€1.126bn).
Xabi Alonso has three of the world’s five most valuable players at his disposal: Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé (each at $196m), and Vinícius Júnior ($185m). Fede Valverde also makes the global top 10 at $142m.
Madrid’s $196m spent on signings
Madrid may be starting a new chapter, but there were plenty of familiar faces on day one. After all, Alonso’s version 1.0 began with the Club World Cup in the U.S., where the first signings – Dean Huijsen and Trent Alexander-Arnold – already made their debuts. Still waiting on Mastantuono (who won’t arrive until August 14), Monday’s only true newcomer was Álvaro Carreras, finally getting to meet his new teammates. They may be strangers to him, but Valdebebas isn’t: the Ferrol-born defender knows the place well from his three years in Madrid’s youth academy.
These four new signings account for Madrid’s largest outlay in six years – $196m (€178m) – as the club seeks a reset after last season’s double disappointment in LaLiga and the Champions League.
15 days and a single friendly
It’s a uniquely short pre-season. Alonso has just 15 days to fine-tune his squad – the briefest summer prep in the club’s modern history. Only 40 days will separate the PSG match from the LaLiga opener against Osasuna – three days fewer than in the Covid-disrupted summer of 2020. Back then, players had had two months off during lockdown. This time, they arrive off the back of the most intense season ever: 68 matches played.
In 2020, Madrid’s opener was postponed, giving Zinedine Zidane 20 days to prepare. No such luck for Alonso. With LaLiga refusing to delay Madrid’s start date, and the Spanish FA’s Competition Committee also rejecting a joint request from the club and players’ union (with Osasuna’s support), there’s no turning back. On Tuesday the 19th, the lights come on at the Bernabéu for the first time this season, with the visitors already boasting 40 days and six friendlies in their legs.
Alonso, meanwhile, has just one test match. As in 2019 and 2021, Madrid will head to Austria for a final (and only) warm-up fixture – next Tuesday, in Innsbruck, against WSG Tirol. A comfortable trip there and back in a day, and a modest opponent who finished last season near the bottom of the Austrian Bundesliga. There won’t be time for more. The countdown has begun: on August 19, the world’s most valuable squad sets out to win back LaLiga.