How Real Madrid SAVED €18m by sacking Xabi Alonso

Real Madrid saved a fortune by dismissing Xabi Alonso in the first year of his contract.

The Spaniard departed his job at the helm of Real Madrid on Monday following a 3-2 defeat to arch-rivals Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup. Officially, the two parties separated by mutual consent.

However, it has since been widely reported that Real Madrid actively approached Alonso to tell him that his services were no longer required. Although the 45-year-old knew he was under intense pressure, this came as a surprise to him.

Alonso was therefore effectively sacked. Castilla boss Alvaro Arbeloa has replaced him, and the current constellation is quite unique because the former right-back was not handed a new contract. He is not just an interim coach like, say, Michael Carrick at Man Utd, at least not officially.

Arbeloa is still on his Castilla contract, so he is technically tied to the club until 2027. This means that if Real Madrid opt to bring in a big name in the summer, they will either have to demote Arbeloa back to the Castilla job or terminate his deal.

Real Madrid saved a fortune by sacking Alonso

As for Alonso, he has not only lost his job, he has also missed out on a fortune in compensation. That is because there was a clause in his contract that protected Real Madrid in the event of an early sacking, according to Mundo Deportivo.

This clause stipulated that Real Madrid would only have to pay out one year of his contract if sacked within the first 12 months and not, as is customary, the full remainder of his three-year deal.

Alonso was reportedly on as much as €9 million per season, so Real Madrid have saved around €18m by sacking him before he completed his first full year in charge.

Nevertheless, his brief time at the helm of the Spanish giants came at a high financial cost. In addition to the €9m paid in wages this term, Real Madrid also had to pay a hefty compensation of up to €15m to get him out of Bayer Leverkusen before the Club World Cup last summer.

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