If there is an unfortunate stereotype of the multi-millionaire professional footballer being a brash attention-seeker – all flamboyant bling and no discerning taste – then Mr Xabi Alonso turns it on its head.

The Spanish 34-year-old former Real Madrid and Liverpool midfielder is currently playing in Germany for Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. He and his wife, Ms Nagore Aranburu, live in a beautiful yet understated family home in the leafy outskirts of Munich, close to the international school two of their three trilingual children – Jon, 8, and Ane, 6 – attend. Emma, their three year old (nicknamed “Merkel” after the German Chancellor because “she is in charge”), is still at kindergarten.

Humble, warm, unaffected, cultured, gentlemanly… there is little about Mr Alonso that screams footballer – no over-the-top haircut, diamond-encrusted jewellery or loud supercar. He drives his inconspicuous Audi to and from training every day, rather than the head-turning classic Mercedes 190 SL convertible that he keeps in his garage for quiet country drives on free afternoons. (The Porsche 356 that he drives in this film is on loan while his Mercedes is being serviced.) On the pitch, he is everywhere; off it, he largely stays out of the limelight, preferring to spend as much time as possible with his young family and their “crazy English bulldog”, Rita. But, if Mr Alonso does have one extravagance, it’s his predilection for fine watches.