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I, like many others, was dubious about the amount of money Rafa spent on Portsmouth right back Glen Johnson but as it turns out it could well be the best £11m the Liverpool boss has ever spent.

Let’s face it the full back position is one that rarely grabs the headlines and never gets the plaudits it deserves but when you think about it the wide defensive position can be key both to the success of the back line as well as the potency of the club’s attacking play.

Alvaro Arbeloa was a trier a worker, but by no means the complete article when it came to his performances in a Reds jersey. His role was far more reserved and controlled with occasional glimpses of attacking prowess and hell even a good long range finish or two. His England international replacement is on the other hand an entirely different kettle of fish.

In the modern game full backs are required to be as effective going forward as they are solid and composed when coming up against the opposition’s own attacking advances. These days the attributes needed are not just the ability to swing in a good cross from the flank but also the ability to make forward runs into space and even be able to beat a man and Glen Johnson has shown in his first two competitive matches for the club that he can do just about any of these tasks with aplomb.

Given that a sizable chunk of the fee to bring the former Chelsea and West Ham man to Anfield was covered by the south-coast club’s debt to the club relating to their signing of former Liverpool man Peter Crouch, and that chunk is said to be as much as £7m, meaning that the 24 year old came at a price of a mere £11m and in the age of hugely inflated transfer fees that is a bargain.

Add to the equation that with a World Cup on the horizon Johnson will be battling as hard as ever to cement his place as England’s first choice right back. Clearly he is already a player that Fabio Capello greatly admires but in order to remain his favourite he will know he must consistently perform whilst at the club.

Obviously it’s always good to not get too carried away but at the same time it’s pleasing to see the impact the Londoner has already made in the first week of the season. He’a already finding good open spaces to receive possession in an advanced area and has already scored, assisted and won penalties whilst also firmly repelling the attackers he has come up against.

Remember too that Glen already has one Premier League title under his belt and will be all to keen to assist us into breaking this horrendous 19 year wait for the title.

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Xabi Alonso deal is done. Liverpool are on the verge of striking a compromise deal to sell Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid.
Alonso’s move to the Bernabeu has dragged on through the summer, with Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez demanding £35million and Real offering £25m for the Spain midfielder.

But Sportsmail understands that the clubs are now only £5m apart in their negotiations and are expected to agree on a price of just under £30m in the next 48 hours.
The 27-year-old will be reunited with his Anfield team-mate Alvaro Arbeloa, who completed his £3.5m move to Real on Wednesday after passing a medical in Spain.
Although Liverpool are set to make a sizeable profit on Alonso – who was signed from Real Sociedad for £10.5m in 2004 – their supporters will be hugely disappointed to see him leave and more than a little surprised at the men Benitez is planning to buy with the proceeds. (Daily Mail)

So the Daily Mail are reporting that the deal is done and that Alvaro Arbeloa’s move to Real Madrid was the first of two Liverpool players making a move to the Bernabeu. This source suggests that a deal will definitely be struck and that the club will lose one of it’s most prized players.

It’s sad to see Xabi go but it has been on the cards for so long now that I think many fans, me included, will be glad to have this chapter of the clubs history done and dusted so that we can all move on. You can’t blame the Spaniard for wanting to return home and to be fair he would have been pretty annoyed about the way he was made seemingly surplus to requirements by Rafa who at the time wanted to cash in on his sale to Juventus in order to push on with the bid for Gareth Barry (thank god that didn’t happen).

Alonso was marvelous last term and he deserves praise for just getting on with his job and showing that he can put aside off field turbulence and still perform excellently in the Reds jersey.

Much like with Arbeloa, I wish him well at the La Liga giants.

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Liverpool have agreed a fee with Real Madrid to sell right-back Alvaro Arbeloa to the Spanish club.
The move is subject to a medical and worth about £3.5m to the Reds who signed the 26-year-old for £2.6m from Deportivo la Coruna in January 2007.
Spain international Arbeloa had one year left on his Liverpool deal and could have left for free next summer.
Defender Glen Johnson’s arrival at Anfield this summer paved the way for boss Rafael Benitez to sell Arbeloa.
Switzerland international Philipp Degen is also fit again after rib and lung injuries and another option for Benitez at right-back, while Jamie Carragher can also play in that position. (BBC Sport)

Finally things are beginning to start to happen. Sorry to see Arbeloa to go and all that but I feel that Glen Johnson has a lot more to offer going forward and seems a more stable and in form player at this moment in time.

Hopefully Alvaro and Jamie cleared the air since their bust up and I for one wish the Spaniard well at Real Madrid and hope that he manages to get a good run in the team at the Bernabeu.

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Florentino Perez: This is one hell of a sneaky man!

Liverpool have reportedly given Real Madrid a 48-hour deadline to come up with the cash for Xabi Alonso.

Exit strategy: Xabi Alonso lines up against Singapore on Sunday in what could have been his last Liverpool appearance.
The Spain midfielder looks increasingly close to sealing a move to the Bernabeu and was photographed at Madrid’s Barajas airport on Monday evening, hours after flying into England following Liverpool’s Asian tour.
Madrid’s long pursuit appears to have paid off, with reports in Spain suggesting Liverpool will accept less than £30million to sell both Alonso and right-back Alvaro Arbeloa to the club. (Daily Mail)

Not sure what to make of this to be honest. Clearly it’s fairly natural for Xabi Alonso to fly to his native Spain following the far east tour but obviously it has led many to put two and two together and make five.

Something in my gut tells me that Liverpool will sell both Xabi and Alvaro Arbeloa to Real Madrid, but that could just be the remnants of last night’s Chicken Tikka. It would be a crime for the club to accept anything less than £35m for the pair in my view but then the club does seem to need some money to help ease the bank debt and that’s a little worrying.

Many fans, me included, had hoped that any sale would lead to re-investment in the squad but perhaps that is wishful thinking. We desperately need to continue the summer clear out. I think we should still offload Andriy Voronin even though he has been pretty decent pre-season and Dossena looks set to leave so hopefully Rafa hasn’t finished spending yet because there is still a big back up striker hole in the squad!

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Full back Alvaro Arbeloa is set to join Real Madrid this week.

The Spanish international was the only player not used in the Reds’ 5-0 win over Singapore, with Rafa Benitez preferring to use Philipp Degen and midfielder Jay Spearing at right-back.

The 26 year-old is believed to have told teammates that a deal was close to being finalised and that he hopes to have the move completed by next weekend.

Arbeloa, who started his career at Madrid before moving to Deportivo La Coruna in 2006, joined Liverpool in January 2007 for £3m – of which Madrid themselves received 50%. He has made 66 appearances, scoring twice. (This Is Anfield)

It seems two full backs are now set to leave the club imminently. First we had Andrea Dossena all packed and ready for a move back to Italy and now Alvaro Arbeloa creeps ever nearer the Anfield exit.

Again as in relation to Dossena, the money on offer seems derisory. I had read that Benitez had asked for around £7-8m for the Spanish international which seems more than reasonable but Real Madrid being the side they are, are now offering as little as £2.5m which is frankly offensive.

Given the amount of cash the club has spent this summer it’s doubly outrageous but Benitez may well just give in for the sake of Arbeloa and the team in general.

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ALVARO ARBELOA is expected to join Real Madrid next week.
The Liverpool defender will make a £4.5million switch to the Bernabeu.

But Kop team-mate – and fellow Spanish international – Xabi Alonso looks to have missed out on the chance of a move to Madrid.

Arbeloa, 26, was signed from Deportivo La Coruna for £2.6m two years ago.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez originally wanted £8.5m for the full-back, who made 43 appearances last season.

Real responded with a bid of £2.5m but now the clubs appear to have reached a compromise figure of £4.5m.

Arbeloa’s agent Manuel Garcia Quilon said: “Discussions with Real are not over and I expect a solution early next week.”

The Source: (Daily Mirror)

The Analysis

Rafa could well be tempted to block Alvaro Arbeloa’s move to Real Madrid just to spite the Spanish club for the way they have behaved during the whole Xabi Alonso’s debacle but such behaviour would probably not do Liverpool or the hard working right back any favours, however Benitez can make sure he gets a good price for the Spanish international.

The club’s £8.5m valuation seems pretty reasonable in today’s market and the La Liga giants counter offer is simply offensive. With Glen Johnson in situ the 26 year old former Bernabeu recruit has to make a move to ensure a first team spot so that he is a firm fixture in the Spanish international set-up ahead of the World Cup, but will he struggle to claim the first team starting position under Manuel Pellegrini?

The mega rich club already has veteran Michel Salgado, the adaptable Miguel Torres and have Sergio Ramos and Pepe able to fill in at right back also so it would be no means a certainty that Alvaro would be first choice and that could concern a player who for the past two seasons has been a fixture in the manager’s team sheet.

The Likelihood

Arbeloa to Real Madrid: More a question of when rather than if.

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The Rumour

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has given up hope of keeping full-back Alvaro Arbeloa.

The Mirror says Arbeloa will join Real Madrid next week for a fee of around £6m.

“We offered him an extension before, but if you have an idea and the agent has another one, you have to find solutions,” he said.

The Source: (Daily Mirror as reported on tribalfootball.com)

The Analysis

Seems almost inevitable that Alvaro Arbeloa will make his move to Real Madrid and its an exit that suits all parties and will be conducted amicably enough. The Spanish international has seen his starting right back berth handed to Glen Johnson but he gets a move to the mega rich La Liga club and providing they don’t sign a succession of players in his position he should do well.

Arbeloa has done pretty well in his two and a half years at the club and will no doubt be keen to impress in Spain so as to cement his place in the international plans with there being a World Cup on the horizon.

The Likelihood

Arbeloa to Real Madrid: He has probably already started packing.

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Real Madrid are trying to sign Liverpool defender Alvaro Arbeloa on the cheap after making a cut-price £5million offer.

The Spanish giants have splashed out over £140m this summer on Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo but are trying to drive a hard bargain over Arbeloa because they know the Spanish full-back is desperate to join them.

The Source: (Daily Mirror)

The Analysis

It seems highly likely Arbeloa will leave Liverpool this summer and maybe this is a chance for Rafa to make a stand. He can state that if Real Madrid want to sign Arbeloa that’s fine, but only if they cease and desist from bothering Alonso and Mascherano, they are of course unlikely to give in to such an ultimatum but there is no harm in trying.

The Spanish right back is of course surplus to requirements and wants to move to the Bernabeu but maybe Benitez can use the player as leverage in some sort of player swap as the La Liga giants have a huge squad of top notch players, half of whom seem very likely to have little future at the club as new faces arrive on an almost daily basis.

Perhaps they could work out a swap deal that see Gabriel Heinze go in the opposite direction?

The Likelihood

Arbeloa to Real Madrid: Extremely likely!

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Hilarious Football Video

The Rumour

Almeria striker Alvaro Negredo wants a move to England.

Negredo’s agents were in London yesterday for talks with Liverpool and Tottenham, says Marca.

Real Madrid are expected to buy back Negredo before selling him on this summer.

The Source: (tribalfootball.com)

The Analysis

Things are beginning to move apace with regards to Alvaro Negredo, it seems almost certain he will leave Real Madrid, who essentially only took up their option to buy him because they then want to sell him at a profit, which has led many to speculate that he could form part of a deal to bring Xabi Alonso and/or Alvaro Arbeloa to the Bernabeu.

Negredo is a good striker who has had two very good seasons at minnows Almeria and is beginning to make headway in his efforts to push for a first international cap and with a World Cup around the corner and spaces in the squad behind starters Torres and Villa, he will not want to be simply warming the bench of the big spending La Liga giants.

He would work well alongside Torres and is the kind of forward who could complement the sublime El Nino, he may well be a target of Rafa’s regardless of the players linked with a move to Spain.

The Likelihood

Negredo to Liverpool : I think this may well happen

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The Rumour

Reports in Spain suggest Alonso and Anfield team-mate Alvaro Arbeloa will complete moves to Real Madrid in the next few days, if not hours.

Liverpool are losing the battle to hang on to 27-year-old midfielder Alonso, who is thought to be keen on a move to the Bernabeu.

Rafael Benitez is happier to cash in on right-back Arbeloa – who has a year left on his current contract – following the signing of Glen Johnson from Portsmouth for £17m.

The Source: (Daily Mail)

The Analysis

Other sources are also quoting this as more or less a done deal but don’t despair Liverpool fans, newspapers have been known to tell porkie pies to get attention, hard to believe I know. Juventus pulled out of the running for Xabi Alonso earlier today, or so I read, which would leave the way clear for Real Madrid to spend yet more cash.

Rafa Benitez will not want to lose the talented midfielder but his head may well have been turned by the attention shown by a club rapidly signing big names at an alarming rate. Less of a worry will be the imminent departure of Alvaro Arbeloa who seems fairly certain to leave the club before he even gets to say hello to his replacement Glen Johnson.

All in all this transfer window has been a troubling one for Rafa thus far, with a host of clubs tapping up top notch players from his first team squad.

The Likelihood

Alonso/Arbeloa to Real Madrid: Looking worrying for the Anfield outfit!

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