by tubby » Tue Jun 09, 2009 11:09 pm
Xabi Alonso to be begged by Rafa Benitez to remain at Anfield
Rafa Benitez's failure to land Gareth Barry could scupper his entire summer spending plans.
And Liverpool's Spanish coach could be forced to beg Xabi Alonso to stay despite trying to sell him two years in a row.
Benitez, who called for the head of outgoing chief executive Rick Parry for acting too slowly in deals, was caught cold over the sale of Barry to Manchester City - and that has left him in a desperately awkward situation.
The Reds boss thought he had an agreement that would allow him to snatch the England midfielder at a cut-price because he was in the final year of his contract.
He then planned to sell Alonso for a huge fee, allowing him to generate up to £15million in profit, while finding a ready-made replacement for the Spanish midfielder.
Alonso is upset at being touted around for a second summer in succession, and has decided he will leave Anfield after the latest humiliation.
And Benitez is left with the difficult task of having to persuade a player to stay who he has repeatedly tried to sell.
His dilemma is simple. Barry was a natural replacement for Alonso and had Real Madrid come up with the £23m asking price the deal would have left Benitez with significant profit to spend.
But without Barry, there is no obvious substitute for Alonso, and even if there were, to sign a topclass international midfielder to go straight into the Liverpool team would cost more than the £23m the Spaniard was hoping to fetch.
Add to that the continuing pursuit of Javier Mascherano by Barcelona, and the Liverpool boss may find himself trying to fight off transfer bids, rather than making them.
From The Mail
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A story full of complete BS.
that article is.. no quotes at all, they are just basically assuming that Alonso is unhappy with no source.
