New signing Xabi Alonso has been included among the 22-man Real Madrid squad that took off to fly to the Canadian City of Toronto on Thursday morning. Real Madrid will play two friendly matches on their tour, the first against local side Toronto FC on Friday, before crossing the border into the United States to play DC United on August 9.
Those games will almost certainly see the Real Madrid debut of the player whose 30 million euros signing from Liverpool was completed on Tuesday evening.
Real Madrid's Xabi Alonso attends his first training session at Valdebebas training grounds outside Madrid August 5, 2009. Real Madrid have ended their search for new signings with the deal to land Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso from Liverpool and will now focus on trimming their squad, director general Jorge Valdano said on Wednesday
Alonso was presented as a new Real Madrid player on Wednesday night at an event where he revealed that he had made up his mind to abandon Liverpool last season.
Meanwhile coach Manuel Pellegrini has left seven players in the Spanish capital.
Defenders Sergio Ramos and Marcelo are recovering from injury, as are Arjen Robben, Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Mahamadou Diarra. However, the fact that Rafael Van der Vaart and Klaas Jan-Huntelaar have been left behind is a clear sign that the club is looking to sell them before the season kicks off.
Real Madrid has already admitted to negotiations with AC Milan regarding the sale of Huntelaar.