Sound the klaxon! Batten down the hatches! We’ve got another case of an international superstar hinting he might be open to come to MLS in the future. This time around, it’s none other than international heartthrob, Bayern Munich and Spanish national team star Xabi Alonso.
From which well are we drawing this wild speculation? Oh, some remarks Alonso made recently when he swanned around New York City, before facing his former team, Real Madrid, in an International Champions Cup match at nearby MetLife stadium.
“For sure one option could be to come here to the States to live and to play in an MLS team,” he told ESPN FC about his potential plans after the end of his recently extended contract with Bayern. “For sure I will consider it, because you're still competing at a good level, you get to live and get to know a new country, have a new experience.”
So you’re saying there’s a chance! Let’s all allow fantasy to take over here and imagine where Alonso might fit in.
- SOMEWHERE IN LA: Either the Galaxy or LAFC, for obvious reasons.
- D.C. UNITED: They have a big ol' depth problem at central midfield, and haven’t really been able to fill it. Plus, D.C. itself is a cosmopolitan, international city. Hello, Xabi.
- SPORTING KANSAS CITY: The squad already boasts several players of international caliber – and they still desperately need depth at central midfield. And as Sporting experiment over the past two years with switching between high-pressing, “attractive soccer” and tactics that hang back just a little, Alonso could also equally hang. That is, unless he isn’t really expected to sprint after anybody on the counter.
- COLUMBUS CREW SC: Okay, so maybe this year isn’t their year – but even former Invincible, and current NYCFC head coach Patrick Vieira, celebrates their identifiable playing style. If they turned things around, Alonso’s possession-based playing style could fit in nicely with head coach Gregg Berhalter’s m.o. Yes, it’s kinda hilarious to imagine Alonso living in Ohio, but hey, maybe the light German influence (hello, Nordecke!) could feel a little like home?
- THE STILL-HYPOTHETICAL, BECKHAM-LED MIAMI TEAM: A girl can dream, okay? Besides, his erstwhile Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo has been working overtime in the offseason to prove his natural habitat is Miami. He and Alonso worked together well on the field once before, and they could do it again.
