Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane will become the new sporting director of the club’s first-team.

The 39-year-old former midfielder, who played for Real between 2001 and 2006, has been advising president Florentino Perez since 2009.

The Frenchman has helped forge a bond between the squad and the Bernabeu board and intervened to help seal Raphael Varane’s move to Real from Lens.

The club have been without a sporting director since Perez sacked Jorge Valdano at the end of last season, reportedly at the insistence of manager Jose Mourinho.

Zidane helped Real win the 2002 Champions League with a memorable goal in the final against Bayer Leverkusen.

He retired from football after his fifth season with Real in 2006 and the World Cup that year. He had won Fifa World Player of the Year three times.

Real have not officially announced Zidane’s new role. and even he is still unsure what his functions would be, but Spanish media said he will work more closely Mourinho.

“I will be the first team’s sporting director,” Zidane told reporters on the sidelines of a charity match in Madrid.

“We will see (what my role will be). Everyone asks me the same thing.

“Mourinho influenced this decision, but also Florentino,” Zidane added.

“Real Madrid is the most important thing that happened to me, both as a footballer and as a person. I will continue to work with the club because it is the best.”

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LIVERPOOL are in talks with Roma to sign Xabi Alonso’s replacement – Italy midfielder Alberto Aquilani.

It’s a clear indication that Alonso, who asked for a transfer last week, is finally on his way to Real Madrid in a £28million deal.

The fee for Aquilani, 25, is expected to be £18m. (Daily Star)

It seems that everyone is waiting patiently for Real Madrid to finally put their money where there mouths are so that people can get on with their lives rather than wait an eternity for the Spanish giants to cough up the correct fee for Xabi Alonso!

I get the impression that Rafa feels he is in a win/win situation and that if the deal is not completed then he will happily continue as before with Xabi a crucial part of next season’s assault on all major fronts, but will it be quite so easy for the midfielder to move on, let’s hope so.

If miracle or miracles does occur and the deal is struck it appears on Planet Tabloid that Alberto Aquilani it the man most likely to step into the void with a deal pretty much signed and sealed and you get the impression that he is waiting by the phone with his bags packed, especially as the Italian side have made it clear that they are willing to sell, regardless of the player’s agent himself being a little less clear cut on the matter.

I think that this week things will be sorted as the gaffer will not want this to continue to hang over them like a dark cloud and with the season rapidly approaching I sure hope that Real President Florentino Perez stops this charade that somehow the club now has some ethical issue with paying big money for players, after seemingly throwing limitless cash on the likes of Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema!

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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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Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool manager, has made it clear he will not lower his asking price for the Spain international despite more than two months of machinations from Madrid in an attempt to unsettle Alonso.
Though Madrid are yet to lodge a formal offer, they are believed to have informed Liverpool they are unwilling to pay any more than £24 million for Alonso. Sources in Spain suggest Perez had hoped the player would agitate for a move to weaken Liverpool’s bargaining position, but aside from admitting he is “flattered” by Real’s interest, Alonso’s refusal to do so has left the deal at a standstill, clearly frustrating his would-be employer.

“We made huge attempts at the start to sign players who had won the Balon d’Or or the World Footballer of the Year award,” said Perez, who started his second spell at the helm of the Spanish side in June. “But the arrivals of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo have confused some people who obviously thought that, because we said we wanted more Spanish players, they could ask for fees which don’t correspond to reality.
“A year ago, certain players we have asked about would have cost less than half the price we are being quoted now. There is nothing that justifies these prices. If necessary, we will find the Spanish players we would like for the squad in our youth system.” (Daily Telegraph)

Are Real Madrid having a laugh? The idea that somehow they can blast the transfer market out of kilter with their big money signings and then at the same time use the excuse that the self same transfer market is too inflated to pay the right money for Xabi, is frankly bizarre.

I hope that Rafa sticks to his guns on this one and to be fair I rate Alonso as loyal enough to not let a collapsed move to Madrid effect his game. So let Florentino Perez continue to spout rubbish and we get to keep a player who shone last season and is firmly committed to the cause.

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Something for Xabi to think about!

The Xabi Alonso transfer saga of 2009 has now twisted to an all too familiar “outcome” that will surely, like its many times before, not signal an end to Real’s persuit of the Spanish international.

Reports over the last couple of days have suggested that Alonso has firmly told Reds boss Rafa Benitez that he wishes to leave Anfield to join the La Liga giants, with Benitez only willing to let him go for £35million.

But today Real sporting director Miguel Pardeza said the club are quickly losing hope of signing Alonso and fellow transfer target, Bayern Munich striker Franck Ribery. (This is Anfield)

To read more of this piece CLICK HERE

This is traditionally the way the Spanish giants conduct their transfer dealings. They sneak a ‘story’ to a Madrid Red Top, such as The Marca about the club’s ‘interest’ in a player, therefore unsubtly breaking every Tapping Up violation in the book, then they wait for that player to become interested in the prospect of moving to the club. That player then expresses these desires to their boss and that boss then tries his best to allay this player’s plans whilst trying to cover all bases by putting an appropriate price tag on the player, the price tag is then deemed to high by the Bernabeu club who then ‘pretend’ to not be interested or that they do not have any money left hoping for the price to come down and then bingo.

I would be mighty surprised if this exact set of events occurs with regards to Xabi Alonso.

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Real Madrid ready spend spend spend!

The Rumour

Sport says Real are ready to offer £60 million for midfield pair Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso, along with fullback Alvaro Arbeloa.

However, the offer still falls short of Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez’s valuation, who rates Mascherano and Xabi at £35 million each and Arbeloa at £8 million.

Benitez has already rejected a separate £3 million offer from Real for Arbeloa this week.

The Source: (tribalfootball.com)

The Analysis

What is it with Real Madrid? Are they attempting to buy three separate world class elevens and then enter them all into La Liga in the hope they can topple Barcelona? Rafa won’t want to lose any of the three that Florentino Perez is trying to subtly to purchase and therefore this valuation will not make a damn bit of business, the only worry for the Liverpool boss is whether any of the trio really wants to leave.

Alvaro Arbeloa will probably leave and comments from Xabi Alonso this week have confused the issue somewhat. Javier Mascherano’s agent seems ready to do the deal so that he can get his percentage so in many ways the boss needs to make it clear to these three that they need to pledge their future at Anfield and if not Benitez will then have to get as much cash from the sales as possible, in much the same way Sir Alex did with Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Likelihood

Trio to Real Madrid: All the fans will be hoping it’s just one from the three to leave.

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The Rumour

Real Madrid refuse to pay over the odds for Liverpool pair Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa.

The Sun says Real Madrid are keen to bring Spanish midfielder Xabi, 27, home along with Kop team-mate Arbeloa.

And Alonso is keen to move because he feels Rafa Benitez, who almost sold him to Juventus last summer, is pushing him towards the exit door.

Real are willing to pay around £23million for the duo but will not be held to ransom.

The Source: (tribalfootball.com)

The Analysis

Surely if Rafa is going to consider the sale of two of his Spanish contingent it will be for a lot more than the money that Real Madrid are offering! Alonso on his own in the current financial climate is worth more than £23m surely!

The La Liga sides new found wealth is causing all sorts of problems for major teams across Europe as Florentino Perez looks to buy up all the top talent on the market and then some. Benitez will have to think long and hard about this because recent quotes attributed to Xabi seem to have him sitting on the fence, claiming he would be proud to join the Spanish giants but happy to stay at Liverpool also, which is a bit of a problem.

As for Arbeloa, he is surely going to leave sometime soon.

The Likelihood

Arbeloa and Alonso to Real Madrid: Watch this space!

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The Rumour

Manchester City are primed to pip Tottenham to the signature of former Chelsea winger Arjen Robben while Blackburn have been linked with a move for Ruud Van Nistelrooy, another Spurs target at the Bernabeu.

But Tottenham are determined to extract some value from the ranks of Real Madrid players considered surplus to requirements and are interested in Dutch midfielders Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart along with Argentina left-back Gabriel Heinze.

The Source: (The Metro)

The Analysis

Daniel Levy is said to have traveled to Madrid earlier in the month looking to scope out exactly what players Florentino Perez was willing to offload but then it all went quiet and as yet no firm offers appear to be on the table for the Dutch contingent or Argentine full back Gabriel Heinze.

Harry Redknapp really wants to reshape things at White Hart Lane, he provided something of a mini miracle last season, coming back from a horrendous start courtesy of previous boss Juande Ramos to finish the season in an impressive eighth place.

Clearly the Tottenham boss believes there is still some work to be done with current squad but whether he can nab any of these top names is another matter. Clearly he believes he can guide the north London side towards the top four and he just needs to convince signings of this caliber that it’s a possibility, which I believe it is.

The Likelihood

Real Madrid stars to move to Spurs: Heinze is a possible as Robben as both players have made it clear they are likely to leave, the others appear to be up for fighting for their places amongst the Galaticos!

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The Rumour

FOOTBALL’S transfer tombola threatens to make Liverpool its grand loser as the game’s richest clubs tempt away Rafa Benitez’s most important players and outbid the Spanish manager for his own targets.

Benitez is close to conceding defeat in his attempts to keep Javier Mascherano after Real Madrid moved for the combative midfielder. He also fears that Fernando Torres could be lost to Chelsea in a £60m heist.

Barcelona were already courting Mascherano when Madrid entered the chase last week. Having set two high watermarks for transfer fees with the £56m purchase of Kaka from AC Milan and their £80m offer for Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo, new president Florentino Perez is prepared to pay £38m for the joint transfer of Mascherano and right-back Alvaro Arbeloa. With Mascherano — who is keen to move to either of Spain’s premier clubs — valued at £30m, the sum would be a record fee for a holding midfielder.

The Source: (Times Online)

The Analysis

This must be worrying for Liverpool fans. The source is a respected one and therefore I wouldn’t take it lightly, and there must be some mileage to the Mascherano story as there is very rarely smoke without fire. His agent has been stirring the shit for a while and there is the story about the Argentine’s missus as well.

It’s beginning to be an odd summer for the Anfield side as they seemed so close to securing Glen Johnson but that deal is still yet to be complete and on the other hand three first teamers are strongly linked with leaving the club.

Real Madrid and to a lesser extent Barcelona, are beginning to become the scourge of the transfer window, basically trying their hardest to unsettle players and waving big sums of money in front of their noses.

The Likelihood

Arbeloa and Mascherano to Real Madrid: It’s a very real possibility. Rafa will have to fight off Perez with a very big stick!

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The Rumour

Xabi Alonso: Not Real Madrid Bound!

Real Madrid have given up in their efforts to sign Xabi Alonso from Liverpool.

The Spanish side were keen on signing the midfielder but Liverpool insisted their player was going nowehere.

And sporting director Jorge Valdano said: ‘Liverpool have issued an official statement to the public – Xabi is a player who has little chance of joining Real Madrid.

The Source: (The Metro)

The Analysis

Thank god for that. It appears that Liverpool‘s official statement last week has done the trick and essentially put the kibosh on the La Liga side’s latest bit of world domination. There are signs that Xabi may have given long considered thought to leaving Anfield but I think the moment Gareth Barry went to Manchester City things may have become more stable.

Clearly Alonso is a talented individual who’s worth to the club has been proven by the repeated interest of others. Rafa Benitez will have had a word with his fellow Spaniard and made it clear to him that he is very much part of his long term plans and hopefully that will be that!

Note however that the Sporting Director and former Argentine striker made no mention of Javier Mascherano, another player the Anfield supremo wants to keep away from Madrid’s grubby cash laden hands!

The Likelihood

Alonso not going to Real Madrid: Jorge Valdano is a more trusted member of the Bernabeu staff than Florentino Perez so I think when he say’s they have given up the chase I believe it to be true!

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