Rafa seems intent on selling this halfway-line-scoring, 30-yard-pass-raking, midfield maestro and now Juventus have upped their bid, but why sell in the first place?

According to The Dail Mail, Juventus have made an improved €20.5m offer for Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso.

The stories in the press regarding Juve and their pursuit of a centre midfielder continue to rocket into overdrive.

The Bianconeri have now all but given up hope of signing Roma’s Alberto Aquilani and Napoli’s Marek Hamisk, while Inter’s Dejan Stankovic is also highly unlikely to join following a fan protest.

This morning Sevilla midfielder Christian Poulsen was heavily linked with a move to Turin, however The Daily Mail says that Liverpool star Xabi Alonso is still the primary transfer target.

Juve had seemed almost certain to sign the Spaniard a couple of weeks ago, until the move hit a snag over both the transfer fee and due to Alonso getting cold feet.

The Mail says that the Old Lady have now launched an improved bid for Alonso, offering Liverpool a whopping €20.5m (£16m). (goal.com)

If the purpose of selling Xabi is to get funds for a Barry bid, then I just don’t understand it. On his day, the Spaniard is better than the Villa man, although it’s true that following his injury last season, he wasn’t exactly a spectacular performer. Do Liverpool fans hope that Alonso stays or should he be sold to give the boss extra transfer funds?