Liverpool FC Forum

[Ciggy]

I will be gutted if he leaves, just gutted on par with when Gerrard was going to leave, he brings so much to the team, we miss his presence so much when he doesnt play.
I hope and pray he stays.

[dawson99]

Havent heard him say he wants to leave
havent heard Rafa say he wants him to leave

ergo, im confident he wont leave

[dafurf]

Addidas will the asses of us if Alonso leaves,he`s in the ad`s for a reason.

[DrPepe]

Alonso unsure his future lies at Liverpool
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LIVERPOOL, England (AP) -Xabi Alonso is unsure if he will be playing for Liverpool next season despite manager Rafa Benitez insisting Sunday he wants to keep the midfielder.

The Spain international, who has been linked with Real Madrid, is reportedly considering handing in a transfer request now that the season has finished with a 3-1 victory over Tottenham.

Asked pitchside if he would still be at Anfield next season, Alonso told The Associated Press: "I don't know.''

Inside the stadium, Benitez said he had held private talks with Alonso's agent on Friday.

"Alonso has three years left on his contract and we are really pleased with him, so we do not want to sell,'' Benitez said. "But I have had a private conversation with his agent, and it was interesting to see who had that information.

"For me it was a private conversation, and it will stay that way.''

Benitez had been looking to sell Alonso in the last offseason to fund the signing of Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry. While that deal fell through after months of negotiations over the fee, Benitez is apparently still keen on the England international.

Liverpool's victory over Spurs secured second place with 86 points - the club's largest Premier League points tally - just four points behind champion Manchester United.

"We have some ideas for the future, without losing any of our key players,'' Benitez said.

[burjennio]

NOTW report Alonso is leaving. Liverpools fans believe it. Chris Bascombe prints a story that justifies his masive pay rise moving south. Liverpool fans don't care that everyone at the club says he's staying. The player hasn't once said he wants to leave and the fact that, even though he allegedly handed in a transfer request he started today, and, was also one of the the focal points of all the clubs advertising over the last several weeks. Now ask yourself how many Sunday sh*t rag stories actually materialize?

[Ciggy]

Somethings a foot why the need for a meeting with his agent?
I dont like this.

[Owzat]

I believe you are making a big mistake if you go after a player and then persist until you get him, so the Barry saga seriously worries me. I think fergie made that mistake when pursuing Hargreaves, he got him at a cost and how did that work out? He bought Carrick and should have left it at that. I might make an exception for a top class player, but how many of Rafa (and past Liverpool managers) targets are in that bracket? Arguably Torres, I don't think we've signed anyone else who is worth being taken for a ride over.

It's simple really, valuate the target and set a reasonable time period to get them. Say for Barry it should have been £12m tops and last summer with January as a last attempt. Now that has gone we should look elsewhere, time doesn't stand still in football and we shouldn't waste time looking at the same good but nothing special player when his club are extortionists. Realise your hand can be beaten, that you could easily throw more and more money in the pot and end up lining someone else's pockets. In the Barry saga Rafa has two pair.

The Keane saga was not much better, done in good time but the Keane limit should have been set at £12m given his age and he's never been that good. It may be just me, but does Rafa seem to back off from signing from foreign clubs a lot quicker than with English clubs?!?! Most of our best players were signed from abroad - Torres, Reina, Alonso, Kuyt, Aurelio, Agger, Skrtel, Riera with two of the others coming up through the ranks. We tend to get ripped off by English clubs, they may sell us players with Premiership experience, but at a cost that drains our not unlimited resources and don't always work out.

I read we are making a £15m move for Johnson, that is a good £5m more than I'd want to pay for him and £15m would be our 4th highest fee and double our record fee for a defender. I'd be hoping to sign someone like Silva for £15m, or add £5m+ to sign Villa, not £15m for a full-back - we're not Chelsea ffs

£21m Torres
£20.3m Keane
£18.6m Mascherano
£15m Johnson?
£14m Cisse
£11.5m Babel
£11m Heskey
£10.5m Alonso
£10m Kuyt
£10m Diouf

Hope I didn't overlook anyone.

[devaney]

We all know that Alonso had a very average injury ravaged season last year and I can understand why Rafa wanted to let him go. When the Juve and Barry deals fell apart was Alonso more motivated than ever to prove a point and say I'll show you Rafa. In life what comes around goes around. Alonso has had a fantastic season and is at the very top of his game so it would be no surprise to me if Xabi and his agent are covering their options as well as having a bit of sport with Rafa! Just a thought. BUT WHATEVER HAPPENS XABI SHOULD NOT GO!

[DrPepe]

We all know that Alonso had a very average injury ravaged season last year and I can understand why Rafa wanted to let him go. When the Juve and Barry deals fell apart was Alonso more motivated than ever to prove a point and say I'll show you Rafa. In life what comes around goes around. Alonso has had a fantastic season and is at the very top of his game so it would be no surprise to me if Xabi and his agent are covering their options as well as having a bit of sport with Rafa! Just a thought. BUT WHATEVER HAPPENS XABI SHOULD NOT GO!

there's no point in trying to keep him (apart from a negotiation point of view to increase the fee), if he wishes to leave 

[heimdall]

Luis Garcia reached the Spanish international status under Benitez. He wasn't an international before, he hasn't been an international later.

And the rest of the players you mention they haven't reached their peak after Benitez neither.

Some of them were good players, but you need to be more than a good player to be a regular starter in a club like Liverpool. Players like Keane and Crouch were like this, and they simple are not good enough to play every game as Gerrard is. They were unwilling to accept that fact because they're internationals.

The alternative would have been to fullfil their demands and play them always. But we'd be playing with simply good players.

As for Cisse and Murphy, I don't know, I appreciate the latter, but do you consider them someone to keep here? Honestly? 

Sissoko, ball winner yes, but we got a good money for him and we brought Mascherano, the team was better because of it.

Torres wasn't a world class player before Liverpool. Now he's a world class player. Alonso has grown a lot from his first season where he was still pretty young, and he has reached his current great peak under Benitez. Reina was an goodish keeper who wouldn't dream of being the first choice of Barcelona and Real Madrid, now he'd walk into Barcelona if his agent wished to. Gerrard is in the best moment of his career. Arbeloa was an average player in Spain who costed less than 1 million, now he costs more than 6. Mascherano was underused and anonymous in West Ham, now his value has been boosted.

If you want to deny this, ok, we agree to disagree.

?? How can you say that Reina would walk into Barcelona when he isn't even considered good enough to be reserve goalie for Spain??

[RedBen]

If I'm not wrong Reina IS the reserve goalie for Spain and Valdes is 3rd choice.

[bunglemark2]

I'm speculating of course, but if he DOES want off, I wonder if it's another of the "Rafa vs. A. Player" scenarios again....
Then again, maybe there are other reasons....
I'd be sorry to see him go. Was watching highlights of the last day of the season on TV here and three panellists named Alonso in their team of the season. (Johnny Giles, Ronnie Whelan and Trevor Steven)

[bigmick]

I've locked horns with Sabre many times over many subjects, but I wouldn't presume to tell him about Spanish Football. I'm sure if he says Reina would walk into this team or that team then it is almost certainly so.

[Ciggy]

From the daily post.

The Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is very annoyed that The News of the World got information about his private conversation with Inaki Ibanez (Alonso’s agent) on Friday.

The paper reported the meeting and quoted a “friend” of the player as saying, “Xabi loves Liverpool but he doesn’t feel he can stay. He has not been happy for a long time and wants to go somewhere he feels he can enjoy his football again.”

Benitez is very keen to find out who released this private information, as he believed that it was just between himself and Ibanez. “Alonso has three years left on his contract and we are really pleased with him, so we do not want to sell,” Benitez said. “But I have had a private conversation with his agent, and it was interesting to see who had that information.

“For me it was a private conversation, and it will stay that way.”

Benitez hates outsiders knowing his transfer dealings, and recently stopped talking to Valencia about a possible move for David Silva after details were leaked to the Press.

[tubby]

I think we will know by the end of this week if Alonso is staying or going.