Xabi Alonso keen on raiding former club Real Madrid as Bayer Leverkusen plot move for 21-year-old midfielder: Reports
Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso is reportedly keen on signing Real Madrid midfielder Sergio Arribas this summer.
Leverkusen, as per Relevo, have already made contact with Los Blancos over the prospect of signing Arribas. He has also been linked with a move to Girona and Sevilla.
Arribas joined Real Madrid in 2012 from CD Leganes and has since risen through the ranks at La Fabrica to earn 14 senior appearances for the club. He is an attacking midfielder by trade but can also play out wide and as a No. 8 when needed.
The 21-year-old Spaniard still has two years left on his contract at the Santiago Bernabeu. It remains to be seen if Real Madrid will be willing to let one of their B team's star players leave this summer.
Alonso would hope that he can pull the right strings to sign the player from Los Merengues, for whom he played for five years until his exit in 2014. He was instated as Bayer Leverkusen's manager in October last year.
The Spanish tactician has recently been linked with the managerial role at the Bernabeu. Carlo Ancelotti is reportedly set to leave the club next year and the 41-year-old has emerged as a serious candidate for the role.
Alonso earlier managed Real Madrid's youth team in the 2018-19 season.
What Real Madrid youngster's father has said about his son's senior team 'dream'
Sergio Arribas' only senior goal for Real Madrid came in the FIFA Club World Cup semi-finals in February this year.
The Spaniard was brought on in the last minute of his team's 4-1 against El Ahly, where he scored the last goal of the game. Shortly after the youngster's headline moment, his father was probed about his son's future at the club.
Enrique Arribas stated that his son dreams of playing for Real Madrid's senior team and that he has been taught to keep his feet on the ground. He said on the SER Deportivos program (h/t ManagingMadrid):
"I always tell him that to be able to get to the dream he has, the only way is work and humility, and that’s what he does. He is a very normal boy, we are very normal people, we have always told him that his feet must be on the ground and there is no further secret.
"Like any boy who starts in the youth academy of any team his dream is the first team, it is what he has pursued the most."
Arribas, who captains Real Madrid Castilla, played just 17 minutes of La Liga football under Carlo Ancelotti last season.