Real Madrid misfit Alvaro Odriozola has re-signed for boyhood club Real Sociedad in a late-deadline day move.
According to a statement on the club’s official website, Real Sociedad have confirmed the eleventh-hour signing of 27-year-old full-back Alvaro Odriozola from Real Madrid.
Odriozola signed for Los Blancos for €32 million in 2018 from San Sebastian, but things never clicked for him at the capital club. Despite his pace and technical ability on the ball, he never managed to convince the likes of Zinedine Zidane and Carlo Ancelotti that he deserved more chances, and he has never been a first-choice pick at the Bernabeu.
Having had sub-par loan spells away at Bayern Munich and Fiorentina, Odriozola returned to the Bernabeu looking to fight for minutes but found himself behind Dani Carvajal and Lucas Vazquez again.
He has been at Carlo Ancelotti’s disposal since last summer but has hardly played, making just three La Liga appearances last season, while the Italian has opted against using him since the start of the 2023–24 campaign.
It had been evident for some time now that the defender was not part of the Italians plans, and as such, an exit was always inevitable. As such, he has been linked with a return to Serie A but had his heart set on a move back to his boyhood club and pushed away other proposals on his table while agreeing personal terms with La Real.
Alvaro Odriozola joins Real Sociedad from Real Madrid ⚪️🔵🤝🏻 #LaLiga pic.twitter.com/ieHLvz3THA
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 1, 2023
With personal terms sorted, everything boiled down to the economics of the deal. With his contract running until 2024, Real Madrid still wanted to bring in a transfer fee for him, despite their willingness to let him leave.
La Real were initially pushing for a free transfer, but the Madrid giants stood their ground over a deal and will receive €1.5 million plus add-ons from Sociedad. The Spanish defender has put pen to paper on a six-year deal until June 2029 as he looks to revive his career with Sociedad.
Real Sociedad had an excellent summer transfer window, having snapped up attacking midfielder Arsen Zakharyan and left-back Kieran Tierney from Dynamo Moscow and Arsenal, respectively. Odriozola will bring extra depth at the right-back position and will compete with summer signing Hamari Traore for first-team minutes.
