Liverpool and Real meet to thrash out Alonso deal
Oliver Kay, Football Correspondent The Times
The torturous saga of Xabi Alonso’s departure from Liverpool to Real Madrid was close to a conclusion yesterday afternoon as the two clubs held discussions at a hotel in Barcelona, where Rafael BenÃtez’s team were playing a friendly match against Espanyol.
BenÃtez has long resigned himself to selling Alonso, but he has frustrated Real by demanding a fee of at least £30 million, which is at least £6 million more than the Spanish club’s only firm offer. José Ãngel Sánchez, the executive director-general of Real, travelled to Barcelona yesterday to hold talks with several Liverpool officials and, although no final agreement was reached over a fee, the matter is expected to be resolved by the end of today, with the deal likely to be struck at about £28 million.
Later in the day Alonso made a brief appearance as a substitute in Liverpool’s match against Espanyol, a fixture agreed last summer as part of Albert Riera’s move to Anfield to mark the official opening of the Spanish club’s new 40,000-capacity stadium. His presence in the squad served as a reminder to Real that no deal is yet agreed and that Alonso is still Liverpool property.
BenÃtez, whose relationship with Alonso has never recovered since his attempts to offload him to Juventus last summer, has been scouring Europe in search of a suitable replacement and has identified the contrasting figures of Alberto Aquilani, the Roma midfield player, and Lee Cattermole, of Wigan Athletic, as well as Javi MartÃnez, of Athletic Bilbao. Reports in Italy last night claimed that a bid of £17.9 million had been registered with Roma for Aquilani, 25, but Liverpool officials insisted that no such deal had been made.
Alonso’s seemingly inevitable departure will come as a blow, but BenÃtez believes that the midfield player’s much-lauded contribution last season has been overestimated. He feels that recruiting a more attack-minded player to operate alongside Javier Mascherano may benefit the team
