Allow me to take you on a journey through time. Back to the 12th of July 2013. A 23 year old man from the Basque region steps out onto the hallowed turf of the Santiago Bernabeu, the holy grail of European football. The new kid on the block, hailed as the successor to Xabi Alonso, has just signed for the most successful side in the world, for a fee in the region €38 million. He looks around, sees the many thousands who have turned out for his presentation, and smiles to himself.
He took some time to speak of how difficult it was to leave the club that he had played for since the early days of his youth
"It hasn't been an easy decision, it has been very difficult for me to decide because Real Sociedad have given me so much," he said. "I was on holiday when we started to hear about the interest from Real Madrid. There were contacts, we mulled it over and came to the conclusion that it was an offer we couldn't refuse. It's a unique opportunity.
"I thank the board, the academy coaches, the backroom staff and my team-mates. I wish them all the best. This club will achieve great things."
11 months on, things may not have gone as smoothly as Asier Illarramendi may have expected. The 24 year old, despite making 40 appearances in his first season (20 of those were from the substitute's bench), has failed to establish himself as an integral part of Los Blancos starting XI in the year that they finally triupmhed and La Decima and the Copa Del Rey returned to the Bernabeu.
With 2 goals and 1 assist to his name, it's a good job that he was purchased as a tough-tackling, ball-playing defensive midfielder, in the mould of current Galactico Xabi Alonso. With an average pass accuracy of 89% in the league (completing 963 of 1076 passes), and an average of 53% duels won, (both of these statistic are superior to those of Alonso) it may not have been a disastourous campaign, but it's certainly worth examining closer.