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Illarramendi thriving after 'enriching experience' at Real Madrid

Helios de la Rubia / Real Madrid / Getty

Many consider Asier Illarramendi to have been a flop at Real Madrid. In some rankings, he's been placed as high as eighth in the club's worst signings, or alternatively, is nudged to the bench of a transfer bust starting XI featuring Lucas Silva - who is still on Los Blancos' books - and Nuri Sahin.

In the greedy bid to garner clicks or hastily complete listicles and imaginary lineups, empathy with non-footballing aspects of life can sometimes be tossed aside. For Spanish international Illarramendi, completing a €32.2-million switch to the Santiago Bernabeu in 2013 represented a drastic change from his life growing up in the historical Basque province of Gipuzkoa. With the exception of football-led jaunts in his formative years and early professional life, Gipuzkoa was all he'd ever known.

"All my family has always supported that team so I have supported this team since I was a kid too," Illarramendi told theScore. "I used to go to Anoeta to support Real Sociedad when I was a boy. And then I was lucky to be called to start playing for them."

Illarramendi was named the league's best breakthrough player and shared the best midfielder distinction with Andres Iniesta for the 2012-13 campaign - recognition that was well deserved for his role in helping Real Sociedad to its second Champions League venture. Going from that lofty standing to deepening a groove in the Real Madrid bench must've been quite a bump.

"A hard year? Sports-wise, yes," the 27-year-old reflected on his first term sharing a dressing room with Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Xabi Alonso - the now-retired fellow Basque midfielder he's often been compared to.

(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)

Illarramendi's divine ability to retain possession and instigate attacks from deep was frequently - and strangely - mistrusted by Carlo Ancelotti. As a result, the midfield practitioner was often submerged by the bountiful competition for places at Real Madrid.

He surmised of his full two-year stay: "It was an enriching experience. In the end you learn many things, you see many things - that's always useful not only for your sporting life, but also for your personal life.

"In the end all of that has been a big learning curve for me."

He took those lessons back to Anoeta in 2015, becoming both the club's most expensive sale and acquisition. The manager who returned him northbound was David Moyes, but the Scot's short tenure and inability to grasp the Spanish or Basque languages did act as a barrier to Illarramendi getting to know the former Everton and Manchester United overseer.

It was Eusebio Sacristan's arrival that caused La Real to rediscover its verve. As one of Johan Cruyff's earliest signings and first names on the team sheet at Barcelona, Eusebio's wisdom was worth listening to. Before he shifted into management, Eusebio had procured four league titles, a Copa del Rey, and a title each in the Cup Winners' Cup and European Cup with the Blaugrana.

"We all knew the style of football that he likes: to retain possession and control the match," Illarramendi explained to theScore. "Just before he came we didn't have great confidence in ourselves, but at the end we finished in sixth position (in the 2016-17 season) by playing some good matches."

What is clear about Illarramendi is that his on-pitch ease is back in abundance. His international debut may have come sooner than last June without that 2013 transfer to Real Madrid, but what he absorbed in his time with the opulent giant was invaluable; he's now readily equipped with the confidence that can see him usurp those above him in Spain's stacked midfield brigade.

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