Anfield Red

The Xabi Alonso transfer saga is almost at an end after Liverpool & Real Madrid officials apparently met last night to thrash out a deal in Barcelona.

Todays Liverpool Echo is reporting that Real Madrid have finally caved in and agreed to pay £30million for the Spanish international.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez insisted he wants Alonso to stay at Anfield, saying: “He is our player and we want him to stay.”

Well it looks like Rafa’s bracing himself for an improved deal from Real Madrid, which could come as early as this afternoon or this weekend. The new deal, which could be worth £24 million, would also include one of three want-away Madrid players.

But which would be the best option for the club?

Real Madrid are prepared to offer Liverpool a choice of Alvaro Negredo, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar or Rafael Van der Vaart as part of the deal to take Xabi Alonso to the Bernabeu as the Spanish club try to break the deadlock surrounding one of the summer’s longest-running transfer sagas.

We all know this deal is most likely going to happen, so we might as pick a player to compliment to starting XI. Which one of the three mentioned above would you want to go along with the transfer funds?

Sky Sports is reporting that a club source has confirmed Xabi Alonso’s transfer request. Here’s the report from the site:

Widespread reports claimed on Thursday morning that the Spanish midfielder had submitted a transfer request following weeks of speculation about his future.

Benitez had grown frustrated by the uncertainty surrounding Alonso, telling him earlier this week that he wanted the matter to be resolved quickly.

So it looks like we’re just in the final 4-5 days of having Alonso at the club. I’ve been hearing a transfer deal could be struck before the end of the weekend or first thing next week.

Not sure what to make of this just yet, but every major paper this morning is going with the news that Xabi Alonso has handed in a transfer request in an effort to leave this summer. Here’s the report via ESPN.

Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso has reportedly handed in a transfer request at Anfield to ensure he gets his move to Real Madrid this summer.

Speculation suggests a fee will be struck with Madrid within the next couple of days for a sum reported to be in the region of £25m.

I’d be gutted if he left for anything less than £30m. Regardless, it looks like Alonso’s forcing Rafa’s hand in making his transfer request to Real Madrid a reality. Don’t know if there’s anything more that needs to be said at the moment. Guess we’ll just wait and see what happens.

Discuss below if you want…

To go or not to go; that is the question. It seems like we’ve been talking about the Xabi Alonso transfer saga this entire summer – watching as Real Madrid and Rafa Benitez went head-to-head over quite possibly the most important midfielder in our squad next to Gerrard.

At a point earlier this summer, I would have been fine watching Alonso leave, so long as we had a viable option waiting in the wings. But now, with the season less than three weeks away, I’m left asking myself: does it make sense to even consider moving Alonso?

I believe we’ve passed that point in the summer where it’d be more of a detriment to lose him, even if we did get some transfer funds back in return. You not only risk the season by bringing in someone new and upsetting the chemistry; you also run the risk of alienating the team.

Here are some of Nando’s quotes from today’s paper regarding Alonso’s possible transfer:

“It would be a bad piece of work if Xabi left,” said Torres.

“It would be a serious loss for Liverpool if he left this summer.”

Serious loss, indeed. Look, I know many of you (myself included) always say, “In Rafa we trust.” But to be honest, I think this is one of those times where even Rafa couldn’t bring someone in this late in the summer that could jump right into the fold without skipping a beat. We need Xabi’s leadership, his passing, and more importantly his understanding of his role in Rafa’s side.

Rafa Benitez expects a lot from his squad. Steven Gerrard finally found out last year just where Rafa wanted him to play after fighting to find his place in the squad for so long. But it took time for him to learn the role. It would definitely take time for any player, no matter how good he was, to learn his role in our side.

I don’t think we have that luxury this season. Without Ronaldo, I truly believe this is the best chance we’ve had to challenge for the title in a long time. Xabi Alonso is a critical piece to our puzzle. And with such little time left before we take the pitch against Tottenham I’d have to say I’m completely in agreement with Nando on the subject. It would be a bad bit of business if he left at this point, and it would most certainly be a huge loss for the club – especially at this juncture.

Numerous media outlets this morning were reporting that Rafa Benitez has agreed to let Alvaro Arbeloa and Andrea Dossena leave this summer to the tune of £4.5 and £5 million for both players. That means the clubs is going to receive roughly £9.5 million back with the start of the season less than three weeks away.

Assuming Dossena and Arbeloa move this summer, that would leave some holes to be filled in the back line before the season commences. Whilst we’ve only seen Rafa really ramp-up the transfer chase for Glen Johnson, I’m going to predict a flurry of transfer moves — one’s that don’t include youngsters that’ll never see the light of day — that should get us ready for the opening league match against Tottenham.

I’ll admit that I’ve been a bit nervy of late with regards to the Alonso situation, as well future of players like Arbeloa and Dossena. The departure of both players won’t leave us in a bad place, however, if Rafa is unable to find viable replacements for both players, I’d reckon we’d be in for a tough start to the campaign, with Skrtel also facing a race to be fit for the opening match.

The start of the season never brings a rash of games from the start, so I wouldn’t worry too much. But if Rafa really is intent on moving players (Alonso could still move; but I’d be surprised at this point), he needs to finds some additions. Manchester United, AC Milan and other clubs have found it increasingly difficult this summer to find replacements for their big names. Even the smell of big money hasn’t been enough to pry their top targets away from their current employers.

Whilst I’ll always trust in Rafa’s judgment, there’s a part of me that’s wondering if we’re selling too many pieces before the season begins. And not only that, if we’re messing with the chemistry too close to the start of the campaign.

Who really knows where things will go from this point in the transfer. All we do know at this point is that we’ll have some added funds for the transfer market, and that’s always a good thing.

Rafael Benitez has told reporters who are asking questions about Xabi Alonso’s future to ask the man himself.

Speaking after the 5-0 win over Singapore, Rafa was asked if the game was Alonso’s last for Liverpool : “It’s a question that you have to ask him, Honestly, we’ve been talking about this for two months but I think that it is a question for him and not for us.

“He has three years on his contract and we know he is a great player – that’s why we signed him and renewed his contract. So you have to ask him.”

Rafa recently made it clear he wanted Alonso to stay, and it is now up to the player to either put these rumours to bed and say he’s saying or hand in a transfer request and do one.

Liverpool were apparently after Marseille midfielder Lorik Cana, according to various newspapers and websites, but after he signed for Sunderland this proves how little these places actually know!

Cana signed for Sunderland yesterday, with Steve Bruce saying “He’ll be a great signing for us, I’m sure of that.”
Firstly, I point you to The telegraph – which states Liverpool were after Cana as a replacement for Alonso.

This next article claims Rafa is “a big fan of Cana” (such a big fan he’s given up all hope of signing him ahead of Sunderland).

Goal – they had to be in here, Ok they didn’t come out and claim directly that Cana was signing, but they still ran the story.

Finally, we see another misinformed website running the same story.

Admittedly, they got what league Cana will be playing in, however I think this link proves how off the mark they really are.

Andrea Dossena is willing to move to Napoli according to his agent, while the club have confirmed they are in negotiations with Liverpool to sign the Italian.

Dossena lost his shirt number to Glen Johnson, and has been linked with Juventus, AC Milan and now Napoli; who his agent claims both parties are willing for a deal to be completed : “There is the will to join Napoli. Napoli want Dossena, and should they follow him, it means they are ready to satisfy the player’s exigencies,” Said Roberto La Florio (Dossena’s agent)

“Now they must decide, because they may need Andrea due to Fabio Aurelio’s injury. The two parts must meet to find an agreement.”

Napoli’s President, Aurelio De Laurentiis has revealed he has spoken to Rafa Benitez about signing Dossena, and that a move is being negotiated : “I’ve personally spoken with Rafa Benitez. The negotiation is ongoing.”

Rafael Benitez has told Xabi Alonso he wants him to stay at Anfield after the ongoing speculation that Alonso is off to Real Madrid.

Speaking at a press conference in Singapore, Benitez revealed he has told Alonso he wants to keep him at Liverpool: “I was talking to him yesterday and telling him to listen to the fans. They love Xabi,”

“You can see he is a really good player and I’ll be really pleased if he stays. All the players and his teammates want him to stay. If we keep Xabi I will be very pleased.”