Xabi Alonso begins the third phase of work on his new Real Madrid: fitting Jude Bellingham in.

Xabi Alonso is building his foundation in stages, largely due to the demands of the script. He was unable to count on Kylian Mbappé until August, who was severely weakened during the Club World Cup due to acute gastroenteritis. Since the second La Liga match, he has made it clear to Vinicius that he has lost his private domain on the left flank, an internal rift that is growing and which the coach is now implicitly admitting in public. And from now on, he faces the sensitive issue of Jude Bellingham's fit in football, whose recovery time has accelerated following surgery on his left shoulder. He played his first minutes of the season on Saturday against Espanyol , and Tuesday's visit to Levante (9:30 p.m., Movistar) represents another opportunity to further his integration into a team that has a winning streak.

To begin with, the foreseeable inclusion of the Englishman in the starting XI within a reasonable period of time would mean the departure of a player who has been a fixture until now. And, depending on the decisions the Basque coach makes, it remains to be seen whether this would affect key issues, such as the formation or the distribution of roles and minutes.

Bellingham's natural position would be the one Arda Güler has occupied most since August, although Xabi tried to clarify on Saturday that it's not necessarily a matter between the two of them. "They can play in similar positions, but it's not one or the other," he assured. "I think they played [together] at the World Cup and that's something I have in mind. Don't think they don't combine well. In fact, they combine quite well. One with the deployment and quality in the final third. Arda can drop a little further to link up with him. Putting them together is a good possibility," the Tolosa native explained. That connection the coach was referring to led to several scenes during the World Cup in which the Englishman reprimanded the Turk for not passing the ball to him more often.

Alonso's initial "investment" in Arda, as he has repeatedly described it, has meant betting on a very specific profile. After the club failed to reinforce its midfield with a playmaker, the Basque player launched an exploration of Güler, a playmaker with a good foot, but with few hours of experience in the top flight and a probable fitness deficit against the most demanding opponents. Since the second World Cup match, the insistence on the Ottoman has been constant, and he only came off the bench this Saturday in place of Gonzalo García .

“As efficient as possible”

Madrid's starting eleven, despite frequent rotations, has been fairly well-defined at the start of the season, so Bellingham's entry would entail the sacrifice of a player who has been a regular, whether it be Güler - who would not be the only one threatened -, Mastantuono , breaking up the Tchouameni-Valverde support, or any other less predictable one.

The Briton is nothing new to Alonso, who already had him during the Club World Cup, but, as the coach warned, the team is now "quite different" (Mbappé, Mastantuono and Carreras arrived later), which means they have to start the integration almost from scratch. Xabi described him on Saturday as "an attacking midfielder who can play alongside the striker and the midfielders, and with impressive playmaking skills," although in the months prior he made two important comments about his play: he has to start "from the right position" and he has to be "as efficient as possible." In the previous two seasons, he was seen at times trying to take up too much space on the pitch.

Equipment thermometer

Jude Bellingham 's fit has generally been a barometer of Madrid's performance. His surprising goal production immediately after signing, deployed by Carlo Ancelotti as a playmaker, launched a team that began that season with doubts and severely hampered by injuries. However, the arrival of Mbappé a year ago as the center of attack, combined with the departure of Kroos, left the Englishman feeling disconnected, lacking much space to attack the box from the second line or the ability to organize an attack. This was symbolic of the discord that plagued Real Madrid last season, which translated into their Ballon d'Or ranking: from third in 2024 to 23rd in 2025.

The Briton's natural talent has so far required very specific contexts to exploit his strengths, and that is the challenge facing Xabi Alonso in a team where Mbappé is on a rampage and Vini is enraged. The British midfielder, Madrid's third big star, has gained market value as a playmaker at the same rate as his scoring tally grew, without the need to dictate the ball forward. "He's in a good position to work with," Xabi Alonso said of him during his presentation.