On Saturday, Real Madrid said a number of goodbyes after their final match of the season, a 4-2 home victory against Athletic Club. Dani Carvajal and David Alaba said goodbye on the pitch after making their final appearances for the club, whereas head coach Alvaro Arbeloa chose against drawing much attention to himself.
Prior to the Athletic match, Arbeloa announced that he would be leaving Real Madrid. The club were very unlikely to offer him a new contract after failure to win a trophy since taking the reins from Xabi Alonso in January, especially considering that the dressing room atmosphere had turned toxic under his tutelage.
One of the players to have clashed with Arbeloa during his time in charge was Kylian Mbappe, who called out his head coach in comments made to the media. However, the pair have since settled their differences and have parted ways on good terms – that’s if their respective social media activity is anything to go by.
As per Marca, Mbappe wishes Arbeloa well as part of a post on Instagram, to which Arbeloa provided an eloquent response.
Thank you so much, Kylian. I will always brag that I coached such an extraordinary football player with unparalleled talent. Hard times don’t last forever, but strong people do. Onto everything that’s coming.”
Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham also chime in
There were not too Real Madrid players that dedicated social media posts to Arbeloa, but some of the club’s heavyweights took the opportunity to send a message to their former head coach. Antonio Rudiger, Brahim Diaz, Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior all wished him well for the future – he responded to them all, referring to the Englishman as “a born leader, an exceptional professional and a wonderful person”, while Vinicius was told that “it has been an honour to be your coach”.
