Dear Alvaro,

I hope this letter finds you well in your new surroundings in Madrid. I would like to say thank you for the service you gave us during your time at Liverpool. You certainly improved during your time here, up to the stage when you became a regular Spanish International. You virtually made the right back position your own last season at Liverpool but Glen Johnson has arrived now, who I regard to be the best right back in the league right now, thus it would have been very difficult for you to remain as our first choice right back.

I would have been very happy if you had stayed and wanted to remain part of a squad which is going to with the league this season. You may not have gotten many starts but I am sure Rafa would have given you some game time as we have a lot of games to get through this season. But you made your choice, and you thought that going back to Real Madrid would be the best move for you. But I really wonder how much game time you are going to get at Madrid? You are in direct competition against Sergio Ramos who is one of the best in the business at right back. I will be keeping a close eye on you at Real to see how much you actually play as I think you would have played more games for us if you had committed to stay.

My greatest memory of you will have to be your debut for us against Barcelona at the Nou Camp. I had never heard of you before Rafa signed you from Deportivo during the January transfer window and he through you into the deep end! We heard you were a right back but I was shocked to see you starting the game for us as a left back and you were tasked to mark Messi! I thought, “Oh no! What is Rafa thinking?” But credit to Rafa for making the decision to start you there and have a right footed player to mark Messi and credit to you for keeping Messi quiet through out that game.

I would like to wish you all the best in your career and I am sure you will reserve a warm round of applause if you return to Anfield one day with Real.

The one transfer we were all pretty sure was going to take place finally happened today. Arbeloa has completed his move to Real Madrid after we agreed a fee with them and the player passed a medical. The moment we signed Glen Johnson, I knew that Arbeloa’s time was up as he would not be our regular first choice right back. It is understood that we sold Arbeloa for 3.5 million pounds which is a one million pound profit from when we bought him from Deportivo. I would have hoped we had gotten more for him but I guess we have to make do with it rather than loosing him for free at the end of next season when his contract was expiring.

Thank you for the service Alvaro, we wish you all the best in Madrid.

The last time Glen Johnson got a taste of exactly the kind of fanaticism that awaits travelling football players in Bangkok, he was wearing distinctly different colours. The blue of Chelsea, to be precise.

At Tuesday’s press conference in the ballroom of the Grand Erawan hotel, the Englishman was all smiles, all ready to answer questions, and as Rafa put it, all ready to play. And he looked just right in the red of Liverpool FC. “It’s been fantastic. Everybody’s been great to me, helped me settle in. It’s brilliant here in Bangkok, all those fans in the Liverpool shirts, it’s a great sight to see,” he said, and added a hope that he could come up with the kind of consistent display he had last season with Portsmouth.

Today was a busy day for the squad, with the division of duties all too evident to anyone who happened to be out on a cloudy day in the Thai capital. When I was returning home, a cavalcade of policemen on bikes furiously signalled for our car to stop so a string of minivans could pass by, and yes, they contained Liverpool FC”s finest, eager for a bit of sightseeing. A few went to the Grand Palace, while others were packed off to do their various promotional commitments and football clinics. They probably did squeeze in a few hours rest before the nearly two-hour long training session that was to take place at the Rajamangala Stadum in the evening, passes to which were very kindly handed out to me by Steve McMahon, who is very nice to talk to, even if you are tongue-tied and star-struck.

At the beginning of the evening’s practice, the players confined themselves to two small circles in the centre of the field, but the stadium had been taken over by roaring, screaming, flag-waving supporters who were well-versed in all the Liverpool anthems. ‘We all dream of a team of Carraghers’ was repeated again and again as the man himself knocked a few balls around, along with emphatic cries of ‘Xabi don’t go’, ‘Mascherano don’t leave for Barca’, and requests to Fernando Torres to convey the same message to his countrymate: ‘Tell Xabi no go to Real, tell Xabi to stay, Fernando!’

Torres, meanwhile, contented himself with running laps around the athletics track at the stadium, checking his watch every now and then, and was soon joined by Yossi Benayoun, Alvaro Arbeloa and Xabi Alonso. They deigned to raise their hands to the crowd now and then, every time bringing up a fresh wave of cheers. In the kickabout that followed, the following were moments worthy of some noise: Johnson’s excellent backheel flick of a pass in the middle, Pepe’s quick recovery for a save that was nearly a lost cause, Carra getting stuck into the opposition, and so what if it happened to be his own clubmate, he was on a different team for the moment.

Torres and Alonso went off early back to the locker room to thunderous applause, and it’s pretty certain that the Spanish contingent will play a role only in the end credits of Wednesday’s match. Johnson is likely to be in the first XI, and after less than impressive results in their last two friendlies, Liverpool will look to get in a win on their pre-season tour of Asia. But regardless of the result, their visit here will be referred to time and again amongst the hordes of fanatics who have been thronging the hotel and stadium the last two days for a glimpse of a world they only see on television between August and May each season. They lined the path inside and outside the stadium gates once it was time for the players to leave the stadium after their practice on Tuesday night, and waited excitedly in the hope of getting another chance to get close to their heroes. There was no sign of that happening anytime soon, but they were happy to bide time discussing all things Liverpool, and it’ll stay in their minds as a happy memory forever.

I know I’ll never forget it.

The transfer talk is heating up and we have barely started the summer. It looks very likely now that Glen Johnson will be joining us from Portsmouth. Johnson’s arrival could just signal the end of Alvaro Arbeloa’s time at Anfield. Arbeloa has been our regular right back and I have been impressed with him. His game has certainly improved. But I feel Johnson is a much better right back than Alvaro. I would not have minded if Arbeloa were to stay with us for the upcoming season as he would provide much needed cover for Johnson but reports are suggesting that Real Madrid are ready to offer us 8 million pounds for Arbeloa.

We knew going into the summer that we were going to have to sell some players inorder to generate cash. Arbeloa was not one of the names I thought we would sell but now that we are getting Johnson, it makes sense to sell him if we are going to get some decent money for him. It also makes good business sense, we bought Arbeloa for 2.6 million pounds from Deportivo, that would mean a 5.4 million pound profit.

It would be a shame to loose Arbeloa but if it has to be done it has to be done. I just hope Rafa seals the Glen Johnson deal first and then lets Arbeloa go as we could look very silly if we left Arbeloa go and then we miss out on Johnson!