The longest running transfer saga of the summer is finally over. Liverpool have agreed a fee, thought to be in the region of £30million with Real Madrid for Xabi Alonso. I am saddened today as we have lost a great player but bigger players have left Liverpool in the past so we should be okay. The moment Alonso decided he wanted to join Real Madrid, I knew that it was only a matter of time before he left.
What I am really impressed with with regards to this transfer is that Rafa seems to have stuck by his guns and did not back down or get bullied by Real Madrid. It seems Rafa was stuck on not letting Alonso go for less than his asking price of £30million. I can only imagine if Rick Parry was still at Liverpool and was tasked with handling this transfer, it would have been resolved a very long time ago but we probably would have only gotten £15million!
Now all that is left is for Alonso to have a medical in Madrid on Wednesday as he has not flown out with the rest of the team tonight to Norway. I am pretty sure the medical will go smoothly. We now have to wait and see who Rafa is going to buy to replace Alonso. With a possible £30million kitty, Rafa could get Roma’s Alberto Aquilani for £20million and still have £10million left over to strengthen in other areas. The next couple of days are going to be crucial as we need to sign someone rather soon as the season is about to kickoff.
I never wanted Xabi to leave but the moment he declared he he wants to join Real Madrid you could sense his heart was no longer with us and in cases like that, it is always best for the player to leave. We want players who want to where the Red shirt and not have their minds on other teams. But thank you for the good times Xabi. My letter to you will follow shortly.
