When Kylian Mbappé approached Real Madrid in July to tell them he wanted to inherit Luka Modric 's No. 10 shirt, both club president Florentino Pérez and Adidas licked their lips lasciviously.

It was a marketing and sales windfall. Dollar signs flashed. But Xabi Alonso's reaction was slightly different, slightly more nuanced.

He told his superstar, with whom he's forging a promising new relationship, that the shirt number came with responsibilities -- not just romanticism and commercialism. Alonso warned Mbappé that Modric had worn the shirt with dignity for the past seven years not only because of his performances on the pitch, but because of his attitude, behavior, dignity and those extras he gave to the club, the squad and the team.

"Do you still want it?" was the implicit chal

See Full Page