Xabi Alonso has revealed that Real Madrid scar has healed and Chelsea situation is not as bad as it looked last season. Alonso could not deliver the goods for Los Blancos and left his job after losing to Barcelona in the Supercopa de España final in January.

The Spaniard had a hugely successful stint at Bayer Leverkusen but could not replicate the same performance at the Santiago Bernabéu. Furthermore, there were rumours of disputes with senior players, in particular Vinícius Júnior.

“Luckily there are not too many scars in my career,” Alonso told reporters at the start of Chelsea’s preseason tour in Australia.

“So, OK, I got a scar, but this heals. Now it is healed, and I am very motivated and determined to enjoy this next step as I did when I started in Madrid.

“Looking back, I take the positives and the things that didn’t work. I have been very critical of myself, thinking about what I could have done better because it did not go as expected.

“[In terms of positives] there are many experiences, the adaptation I had to do, some things that worked and some things that did not in terms of the game, in terms of the man-management. It is a mixture of everything.”

Meanwhile, Alonso will now look to turn a corner for Chelsea. The Blues ended the previous season in the 10th place in the Premier League and Alonso would look to get the best out of his players.

On his decision to join Chelsea, Alonso said: “It had to be a lot from here and also from here,” pointing to his head and his gut, respectively.

“I saw it was good timing from the club, good timing for myself, a good opportunity.

“It is a team that has played really well recently and the situation was not as bad as it looked at the end of last season. There is a big potential to improve and let’s see how long [it takes].”

Chelsea will begin their Premier League season against Fulham on Aug. 24.