Liverpool Boss Planning Flawed £18m Swap Deal
by Steven Constable on May 26th, 2009 318 words | 15 commentsThe all new rumour reporting article system is in full effect!
The Rumour
Liverpool face losing Xabi Alonso at the end of the season.
The Daily Mail says Real Madrid will step up their attempts to seal an £18m transfer for Alonso this week after his agent told Liverpool the Spain midfielder wants to leave Anfield.
Alonso, 27, came close to joining Juventus for £16m last summer, but has still been one of Liverpool’s best performers this season.
However, his representative Inaki Ibanez met with manager Rafael Benitez on Friday and confirmed the player is ready to end his five-year stay on Merseyside.
Madrid lead the chase for Alonso, who is also attracting interest from Manchester City, but Benitez could look to use him as part of a deal for one of his own transfer targets.
The Source: (Daily Mail as reported on Tribalfootball.com)
The Analysis
Recent quotes attributed to Xabi’s agent will obviously worry Liverpool fans but i don’t think there is any need to jump to conclusions until things have progressed further. It could be that Alonso is keen to establish whether Rafa believes he is part of his first team plans next season or whether he may be bench bound should Benitez continue his pursuit of Gareth Barry.
In his five years at the club the Spanish midfielder has acquitted himself marvelously and has always had the full support of the Anfield masses but he would have been upset last summer at the way his boss chased the Aston Villa man and perhaps wisely he wants to know what the future holds before the whole transfer window madness begins in earnest.
Reports are coming thick and fast about the possible using of funds from a potential Xabi sale for future sales but i am sure that most Liverpool fans will hope this is not the case.
The Likelihood
Alonso to leave Liverpool: Watch this space.
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Gunneroo - May 26th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Alonso obviously isn’t apprieciated properly by Benitez, he should come Arsenal where he would be adored.
nando clarke - May 26th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
hes adored at anfield, rafa z hes not for sale so hopefully thts how it will stay. hes better than 99% of other creative CM in the world. Arsenal can take Barry, maybe stop Villa breathin down ther necks :L
red - May 26th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
i can see us selling alonso for £20-23 million and picking up barry for 10 million. reason is, barry can play as left back, left wing, midfield and benitez likes versatile players.
the other reason is that while the f’ing coksucking yanks still own liverpool, we can’t afford to have both alonso and barry, which is ideally what rafa would like.
QaiyumLFC - May 27th, 2009 at 6:54 am
if alonso want to leave..sell to real madrid..10m+ sergio ramos..
LFC - May 27th, 2009 at 9:37 am
exactly wat like Qaiyum sell alonso to real madrid and get a player(s) from there team
Chris - May 27th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Would not swap Alonso for any midfielder who can play CM. Would not even consider it for Iniesta or Xavi.
Anonymous - May 27th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Keep Alonso Barrys shit
Days Of Dalgleish Are Nearly Back - May 28th, 2009 at 1:51 am
NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
If we sell Alonso and get Barry we’ll regress to back to being off title pace battling it out with Arsenal for 3rd!!! I don’t mind Barry coming in to add quality in depth but not to replace Alonso! Rafa has said he wants to keep Alonso and doesn’t want to sell him so hopefully it won’t happen.
Chris – Come on Alonso and Fabregas can’t get into the Spain side, reason: Xavi and Iniesta are 2 of the best midfielders in the world!!! As much of a fan of Alonso I am I would swap Alonso for one of them without even blinking.
TEDSUZUKI - May 28th, 2009 at 5:25 am
What do you expect Benitez to do? He has already said in the press at least 3 times in the past month that Alonso has 3 years of his contract to keep…he is a Liverpool player and they are not looking to sell him, Alonso has said to be happy in Liverpool, bla..bla..bla…’ What more do you need?
Come on! Tell the guy in the Daily Mail to come with something new. If he is really bored, tell him to go play with himself rather than waste our time reading his fantasies.
torres rules! - May 28th, 2009 at 3:28 pm
let alonso stay hes very good arsenal screw u
everton FuC k u
man u shi t yourselves
chelsea your all cunt,s
hamid - May 28th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
javi martrinez johnson silva tevez barry in voronin babel alonso itandge pennant out
money from sales = 45m money from owners = 30m martinez for 8m johnson for 11m silva for 22m tevez for 26m barry 9m total 76m this is a well documented fact foks
Vorian - May 29th, 2009 at 12:29 am
The thing with alonso, is he has got a slightly weaker version of david bekhams incredible long range kick. Also at the same time he is very defensive and great at defensive mid which makes him a vital part of any team. Barry and gerrard may work well together, but barry does not offer the diversity of attack you get from gerrard and alonso.
I mean I dont know whats worse for the oposition, Gerrard having the ball or alonso havint the ball?
To be honest if its one player liverpool need its david silva, I am struggling think of a weakness in attack or mid if they have silva. I mean up frotn they have Torres, Kuyt and Babel, who knocked arsenal out of the last champions league.
All this said hopefully liverpool sell alonso so arsenal can buy him!
Ash T - May 29th, 2009 at 2:49 am
omg vorian why would you want to sell alonso hes way better than barry what liverpool need is some one who is young and better than lucas for the cover for alonso and gerrard not old barry who carnt get any better than he is now maybe javi martinez or mark noble( i thought he played brill against liverpool)
TEDSUZUKI - May 29th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
total bullshit! just had a drink with alonso 10 minutes ago. in fact he is sitting right here beside me. he said he is going to be wearing la galaxy jersey’s next season in replacement for beckham. they are going to pay him some ridiculous amount. so it’s really hard for him refuse. he plans to retire in the states anyway. so great to start adapting sooner rather than later.
he also said rafa explicitly mentioned barry is not coming to liverpool. he said, no way will he ever deal with o’neill again. don’t tell anybody but liverpool is locked in the last stage of negotiation to bring iniesta in replacement for alonso. out of gratitude to rafa for providing strategic tips over the week on how to beat Manure, guadiarlo is prepared to loan henri to liverpool for a season.
Chiggy - May 30th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
LOL at TEDSUZUKI