Xabi Alonso has made his feelings on five Real Madrid stars very clear following the club's disappointing FIFA Club World Cup campaign.
It was far from the debut tournament Alonso would have been expecting at Real Madrid, with hopes of salvaging an underwhelming season falling flat at the semi-final stage.
Madrid's failure to win the Club World Cup was made even more damning considering the signings of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dean Huijsen ahead of the tournament.
Alonso's side were dumped out in embarrassing fashion by Champions League holders PSG, as the Parisians ran away 4-0 winners with three coming in the opening 25 minutes.
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With just 28 days until Madrid's opener against Osasuna, Alonso has made his players hyper-aware of their roles in the squad, and five stars have been sent major warnings.
According to MARCA, the Spaniard has informed Rodrygo, Raúl Asencio, Andriy Lunin, Fran García, and Ferland Mendy that their minutes are in the team are in jeopardy.
Brahim Diaz has also been informed he will continue to be used as a substitute, the report claims the players are using their short vacation to assess their place at the club and weigh up their options.
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Rodrygo in particular will be one to watch, with Liverpool amongst the Premier League clubs interested in the Brazilian.
What Xabi Alonso said following the Club World Cup
"Today it hurts and our level wasn't good enough," he told the media at full-time.
“Going 2-0 down early on is a conditioning factor. We wanted to play an intense game and after that you face it in a different way.
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"More than the distance between the two teams is the margin we have to improve. It's the end of this season and not the start of the next.
"We’ll take the positives from this Club World Cup period. We're leaving as a better team.
“We haven't talked about it during the Club World Cup, but from now on we're open to making improvements. We are always looking to improve and there's room for improvement," he added.
Topics: Xabi Alonso, Real Madrid, Rodrygo, Premier League, Football
Tom Jenkins