Arsenal to launch ambitious £18m Liverpool raid
by Steven Constable on May 13th, 2009 15 commentsGet ready. The all new rumour reporting article system is in full effect!
The Rumour
Arsene Wenger is planning to go back in for Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso this summer.
Arsenal came close to landing the Spanish international last year, when Kop boss Rafa Benitez was trying to bring in Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry.
That deal looks set to be resurrected soon, leaving the way clear for 27-year-old Alonso to leave Anfield.
A year ago the Gunners were reluctant to meet Liverpool’s £16m asking price for Alonso but following another blank season they may now be ready to splash out.
The cultured star’s value is likely to have risen to around £18m, but Wenger and the Gunners board appear to have accepted they need to bring in established Premier League stars if the club is to end a trophy drought which goes back to the FA Cup in 2005.
The Source: (Daily Star)
The Analysis
The Arsenal faithful are an unhappy bunch at present after a series of poor performances in recent weeks have left them to complete their fourth straight season without a sniff of silverware. Arsene Wenger needs to appease the fans with some transfer market magic and most importantly he needs to bring in players with experience that fill the big gaping holes in the Gunners line-up.
A move for Liverpool’s mercurial midfielder would go a long way to doing the trick. Ask any Emirates season ticket holder and he will rightfully point out the club needs a central midfielder and whilst Xabi wouldn’t negate the need for a Patrick Vieira type player he could work well as a partner for Spanish compatriot Cesc Fabregas and as a midfield duo they could well form one of the best pairings in the Premier League.
Alonso isn’t afraid to get stuck into the tackle and is also a great out man, a player who neatly bridges defence and attack with a smartly played pass and Wenger is known to be a fan. The one sticking point could be that Rafa Benitez wouldn’t want to offload such a talented individual to a fierce rival but having said that if the Anfield boss feels that Aston Villa man Gareth Barry is the one for him (and believe me that’s a decision that seems like a very silly one indeed) then he may well decide to cash in on the fans favourite in order to make ends meet.
The Likelihood
Xabi Alonso to Arsenal: Rafa may be keener on a sale to Man City but it’s a distinct possibility that Xabi may feel he is not wanted by his boss if he continues to pursue Barry and a move to north London could then become a reality.
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besart - May 13th, 2009 at 10:47 am
really rafa is so stupid man. dont sell Xabi he with Garrard and Torres the best liverpool player if u sell Xabi u dont be strong but u will be poor Team fuck Rafa if u sell Alonso
Dom - May 13th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Ima ardent liverpool fan. Alonso is exactly the player Arsenal need.
.But like I said. He’s worth 20 at least. They are better off going for barry. He is too valueble to us.
Lfc Fan - May 13th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Rafa wouldn’t sell Alonso to Arsenal may so many other clubs are chasing him. And i dont think Alonso will go this summer.
Lfc forever - May 13th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Please rafa dont sell alonso. He is great with gerrard/mascherano. You can sell like babel, dossena etc. but don’t sell alonso or riera too.
Poor Spuds - May 13th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
rafa wudnt sell for less than 20 million {unless he’s in absolute need of money)… n wenger wudnt buy nythin more than 15 million…
so the chances of havin alonso @ the emirates looks pretty BLEAK to say the least…
Donavan Ried - May 13th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Alonso has had a great season for us, but i think we need to move on. We need to find a midfielder who can give us a “Alonso” + tackling,speed and more of a goal threat, and i do know that is not Barry…
red - May 13th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
wouldnt sell him to arsenal
jimmycarterwingwizard - May 13th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
if xabi is sold then rafa can go to hell!
thats how strongly I feel….this lad has been brilliant this season & surely if sold to a possible rival next year because regardless of their form they can still produce it would be huge mistake.
& 2 swap him with barry would be a joke. yes he has his strong points but being honest is nowhere near xabi if we are going to get him then lets cash in on mash…I know hes a bit of fave with fans…but apart from his endless energy & tackling skills he hasnt got much else in his locker! but this I cant see happening.
spoke to xabi last year AUG & told him how much most fans wanted him to stay…of which he said thanks maybe our boss should do the same…I know its all paper talk at the moment but Rafa just doesnt come across as someone who will do this….im not saying wrap the players up in cotton wool etc but just having that bit of faith in a player can add that bit extra….
i recall a certain jose apparantlty saying to lampard son your the best midfielder in the world…even if he isnt that sort of manager mentality is what is required.
sort it out rafa…give xabi the reassurances he is wanted full stop.
because with him in our team we are much better for it!!!!!!!
as for possible buys god knows what this will bring but please as I have said before this season is about QUALITY over QUANTITY.
over to you mighty one and cowboy board( dont think we have forgot about you)
6ft 2 eyes of blue Alan Hansen after you etc they just dont sing them like they they used to sing a song for me!
Steve McMahon - May 13th, 2009 at 11:10 pm
I have mixed view’s when it comes to selling Alonso.
My first view is that if he is sold then for f_ck sake not to a rival, maybe Man City as they are not rivals. Alonso has played really well this season and maybe you are right for once JCWZ, a little bit of faith in a man can go a long way, but I dont think either that Raffa will come out and say “hands of, Alonso is going nowhere”, Raffa to me shows the emotion of a headstone.
Also I would agree with your Masch goodbye idea, but personally I dont believe that Raffa would let Masch go before Alonso.
For me Alonso’s standard this year has nothing to do with Raffa’s man management skills, more to do with Alonso getting the finger out and maybe was on a high because of last summers European championship win.
Barry in Lucas out? sounds good to me but not Barry for Alonso, no comparision.
We have a massive wage bill with 60 or so players on the books yet Lucas was Raffa’s first choice replacement when Gerrard was out, so something is not right, we would appear to have a lot of shite when Lucas is next in line to Gerrard so we should be able to get rid of nearly 15 players, raise a bit of worthwhile cash and buy propper quality players, but for all Raffa’s mouthing about sealing the deal quickly with his removal of Parry, I can still see us buying players that are at best average, I f_cking do hope that I am wrong.
Sola, Warri, Nigeria - May 14th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
I really don’t know why Rafa prefers Barry to Xabi. I just hope Arsene buys him whatever the cost; that will bring balance to Arsenal’s midfield and Arsenal can then score more goals from shooting outside 18.
Good luck Rafa!
john - May 14th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
seriously. the only players we 100% need to keep are the spine players (torres, gerrard, mascherano, alonso, carragher, agger and reina.) because as i see it rafa has been trying to build this spine up n order to build the team around them. get a natural right midfielder (lennon possibly as he is really good considering hes age.) and a better rb (glen johnson) and sell degen, dossena, lucas, itandje, and a load of un-needed reserve players as our reserve team is huge (we only really need youth which are too old for the youth team in the reserves such as pacheco and darby) use all this money to strengthen our wide areas and get someone who can both play alongside torres and fill in when hes injured.(santa cruz or tevez)
mighty reds - May 14th, 2009 at 5:24 pm
John did i hear you say spine players-caragher and reina. i can accept cara but i won’t take reina. that guy is a piece of crap. the kind of goal he concedes suck. we need a better goalkeeper like jaskeillan (sic) of bolton or mark scwarzer. i mean guys that can compete with van der sar and petr cech. anyway the two players i seriously want out are lucas and dossena esp lucas lucas lucas- that guy sucks. how about getting a natural winger with great skills like ronaldo cos albert riera gas done fuck all and kuyt runs around the whole pitch without really doing anything though kuyt is good
Donavan Ried - May 14th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Evening Steve,
Steve McMahon – May 13th, 2009 at 11:10 pm ………… “but for all Raffa’s mouthing about sealing the deal quickly with his removal of Parry, I can still see us buying players that are at best average, I f_cking do hope that I am wrong.” …… This is my worry too….. Sorry Evening jimmycarterwingwizard
Gary - May 22nd, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Alonso has so much more in his bag then Barry. He fits in with the ’spine’ as mentioned before. There are some good youngsters coming through like Spearing…reminds me of Gerrard when he first came on the scene. Always knew Stevie G was gonna be a world beater! Torres was a fantastic siging and what we need is to sell some of the fringe players like Dossena and Lucas etc. and raise some money for David Villa. We also need another 2 defenders; Glen Johnson to mention but one; and a couple of good wingers like SWP or Lennon to take us that much closer to the type of squad Man U have. They are definitley looking over their shoulders now and with the right signings in the summer Liverpool will clinch the title next season!
Vorian - May 29th, 2009 at 1:05 am
Well if benitez buys barry, xabi will take it as the sign to mvoe on his threats to leave are down to benitezs constant pursuit of barry. I dont quite blame xabi tbh, no one wants a season on the bench. If xabi gets sold, hopefully its to arsenal, he would fit in perfectly as he is mroe defensive than what we currently have in defensive mid and would complement our attacking power. Also he provides the experience we need in the midfield; in fact he would be the perfect defensive mid signing for arsenal, the only player we would want mroe would be essien, but thats just a fantasy.