News & Interviews

Aww everyone seems to be getting married lately, Alvaro, Fernando and Xabi's is coming up as well

thanks

for what? her opinion? ... ok I guess this is Maria was talking about

From the Guardian (it was also in the Independant yesterday)

Real Madrid: No deal over Liverpool's Xabi Alonso at £35m

• Midfielder is a priority but only in our budget, says Valdano
• Spanish giants end their interest in Valencia's David Villa


Real Madrid's director general, Jorge Valdano, has said his club will not meet Liverpool's asking price for Xabi Alonso and will consider alternative targets should the hardball stance of Rafael Benítez continue.

The Liverpool manager has placed a valuation of around £35m on the player he tried to sell for £18m last summer, leading to an impasse that Alonso is anxious to resolve before his scheduled return to pre-season training at Anfield on 19 July. Despite frequent communications between the clubs, and Alonso's representatives, Liverpool have yet to receive an official offer from Real for their Spanish playmaker. Valdano insists none will materialise unless Benítez reduces his price tag.

"Xabi Alonso is a priority if he fits into our budget, and this doesn't seem the case. We are very far from the figures that Liverpool have set out," Valdano said. "Liverpool have taken up a difficult stance over Xabi Alonso. I don't like to talk about the private details of negotiations. We are studying many alternatives. We want someone who can channel the play and there aren't many like that in the world."

Valdano has publicly withdrawn Real's interest in Alonso before, only for dialogue to resume within days, raising the possibility that the announcement is another attempt to pressure Liverpool into selling a player disillusioned by the events of last summer.

The director general also said Karim Benzema's arrival from Lyon had ended Real's pursuit of the Valencia forward David Villa.

"After the great players who have arrived, we aren't in a hurry," Valdano said. "[We want] two signings, maximum three. That's the number with which the team will be able to cover all eventualities. With the arrival of Benzema, we are not going to sign Villa. We are happy to have got the Frenchman. He is 21, powerful, and is enthusiastic and eager."


They want him to be for free or what?! They want Liverpool to risk losing the best central passing midfield in the world for nothing?! Thar shows how much they value him Ready to pay the national income of Italy for Ronaldo but nothing for Xabi

Well, I suppose that's good news Unless Benitez loses it again and sell him for £10!!

Reallly good news...I think he loves liverpool...He isnot like ronaldo that go real for money.And he isn't stupid

oh yeshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ! ... liverpool have valued him at 40million pounds pay tht and he is all yours to real madrid ! ... madrid dont wanna pay and you cant having you spanish bastards!

really good news... fantastic
Xabi is one of the best central passing midfield, that's true and know it everyone.....
so if the Liverpool want to win a PL then Xabi MUST stay there
and I think he wouldn't have been to right with the Real....

even tough they'll pay this they cant have him ... know what you mean

They deffo can't have him on the cheap or anything He is our's and our's to stay cos he is gonna help us win the Premier League, please stay Xabi

=O I didn´t know it, thank u for the new (:

Udinese? What the f*ck do they have to do with it?
And yes, we know they are interested, they said so two months ago...pillock!

I’m sorry for what’s coming but I have to get it off of my chest!

I became a Liverpool fan because I was a fan of Michael Owen and all I see now is that two of my top players left Liverpool under Benitez and a third one is about to do the same.

Michael asked to leave without any precedent but Benitez did very little to keep him with us and was quite happy to see the back of him. It was perfect, he wanted him out to do his “rafalution”, put Steven in the front and he didn’t have to push him out or anything.

Then Riise, who was treated like shit and left on the bench while replaced by some crapy newly brought in left-backs who were sold the following months while he's always had a huge potential and talent.

Benitez killed his game and his confidence. He managed to bring him down and pushed him out without any honours after eight years of loyal and brillant services. And now he's playing very well again for AS Roma. Yet while Hyypia got Anfield praising him, Riise left ashamed and will always remain "the own-goals guy"

And when it comes to Xabi, Benitez took him for granted. Thinking he would be stupid and submissive enough to take it with silence and thank his master 'who gave him everything' (that's basically what Benitez said). What kind of good manager go and say to his players: “You owe me. You were nothing and I made you who you are now so you shut up and take it like I please”?!

Benitez tried to sell him without asking him to Juve last year in an irrelevant and idiotic pursuit of Barry. He's been doing everything to push him out but doesn't want to admit it. Yesterday, the papers from England not Spain (even the most serious) said Xabi phoned Benitez to tell him he wanted to leave.

How the hell do they know that? They were alone on the phone! So either the papers hacked the phones again or Benitez didn’t waste a second telling everyone what he'd just heard…if that is true in the first place…

The manager is hiding himself behind lies ("not for sale" he didn't waste a second putting a price tag on him though) because he knows the fans love him. So he wants Xabi to officially ask for leaving so they turn their back on Alonso and not on him like we all did when he tried to sell him last year.

God! How many of the fans will suddenly call him a traitor and a scum after he left? It’s starting already actually. Numbers of fans are saying he’s ungrateful. But for God’s sake! The fans don’t select the players, Benitez does and if he wants to replace him, what should Xabi do? Let himself rot on the bench and see his dreams fade away for the sake of the fans?

That’s what Riise did and he ended up joining the first club who wanted him to save his career who was sliding fast straight to the gutter.

Benitez has a history of ill-placed pride and he doesn't want to admit he's just done a huge mistake. The team was working finally working fine after and now what?

Liverpool don't have Barry and are about to lose Alonso who's fed up with the manager's shenanigans. And Maschareno (whom i hate) because Benitez got scared of the fans reaction and played him much less this year in favour of Xabi.

If Xabi does leave for Real, I will cry my eyes out but that serves Benitez right if we lose the title again because of his bad choices. I’m fed up with the whole CL trophy. It was 4 years ago, let’s move on and realise things have not been going that well since then

The only good choice Benitez had made since that win is buying Torres. That’s when things started going good again. All the rest was crap!

Edited by Jules =^.^= - 15/7/2009, 07:01