Defender Marcos Alonso has admitted his move to Bolton Wanderers was undoubtedly the toughest of his career, forcing him to change almost overnight.
The 33-year-old has been speaking to AS about his career as he gets going with his latest and seventh club, Celta Vigo.
The veteran has had a wide-ranging career to date, starting in Real Madrid’s youth set up and making it to the Castilla level before joining Bolton for €2.4m in July 2010.
Three years there and he headed to Fiorentina on a free transfer, with a loan spell at Sunderland in between before he ended up at Chelsea in a €23m move.
Barcelona followed the Blues after six years before he then joined Celta Vigo on a free transfer this year after two seasons at the Camp Nou.
His time at Bolton is now largely forgotten thanks to some of those big moves, which have seen him winning the Champions League in 2021, the Premier League in 2017 and La Liga in 2023.
But it seems he still remembers the period and the difficulties he had to quickly overcome to make after arriving in Bolton as a youngster from Madrid.
“A little complicated. I came from always living at home with my family in Madrid,” he said.
“When you leave overnight to a different league, to a country with another culture and another way of living, it always requires an adaptation process.
“I’m happy with the decision, it was the right thing to do at the time. The way of living football and respect for the player in the Premier League is special. That first outing at 19 years old was the most difficult adaptation process.”
