The sum of the text on the official website, in sum, is thus:
Liverpool Football Club this evening confirmed they had reached agreement for the sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid, subject only to a medical.Verbose, as usual.
The terms of the deal will remain confidential and undisclosed.
And, continuing with the laconic theme, I’m of little mind to eulogize Alonso’s stint, as I often do when players are sold. I’ve written more than enough proclaiming the Spaniard’s talents and contributions to the team over the past few months. Plus, and no offense meant, but Alonso’s been a more-integral part of the team than say, Arbeloa, Luis Garcia, or Warnock. No player’s bigger than the club, and Gerrard, Torres, Mascherano, and Reina are more important to the current team, but I’m still going to have to come to terms with this sale. Yes, even though it’s been in the works for weeks, I’m still not a happy camper.
So, for at least now, I’ll just say, ‘Thanks for the last five years, Xabi, enjoy your time with the other mercenaries you’re now teammates with. I hope the tax cut is worth it.’
You can read one of two things into Liverpool’s above statement. Either the fee was less than Liverpool’s supposed hard-line, or Benitez doesn’t want to tie his hands in regards to future business by showing his budget. Either way, I don’t think the fee amounts to Xabi’s true worth, especially when it’s Madrid who set the crazy market in the first place, but that’s more as a result of Alonso’s talent rather than whatever total Liverpool recouped.
And either way, the summer’s long, drawn-out saga reaches the end of phase one. Yep, only phase one. We still have, at most, a month left of speculation over replacements. Awesome. And yep, "replacements." I used the plural for a reason. I don't know if one purchase will be enough to fill the void.
I imagine most have seen the Aquilani gossip since Monday. Marca (sigh) says a £15.3m deal was negotiated (sorry for the Goal.com link), contingent upon the sale of Alonso. I don’t catch a ton of Serie A, but I thought him a player similar to Paul Scholes, who plays further up the field. Maybe Benitez sees him if a different position in England, or maybe he sees a more mobile formation, similar to Barca last season: Mascherano holding deep, Gerrard and Aquilani in the Iniesta/Xavi positions, and two of Kuyt/Babel/Benayoun playing closer to Torres.
But the Football Manager-esque speculation can wait for another day. Players will be bought, but Xabi Alonso’s going to be very hard to replace. And there are only 12 days until the league starts.
9 comments :
And with Arbeloa and Alonso out and only replacements in (Johnson and TBD for Alonso) Liverpool are still where they were a year ago - sorely lacking in depth.
That's the stinger for me.
Fuck Alonso right in his gay beard.
Okay that was a bit harsh ... I actually liked the beard.
The beard is where his super powers came from. Without the beard he is a mere mortal.
Alonso's beard was awesome. His departure is not. I hate Madrid.
I know nothing about Aquilani, either. So, instead, I'll futilely fantasize about things that will never happen, like Pirlo or Gourcuff as Reds.
FF
Do any of you remember Steven Defour from our matches against Standard Liege? We've been linked with him, but I don't remember him at all. He, of course, has a youtube highlight reel, but I feel that can't be used to judge players (least of all central midfielders). If you read some of his quotes he seems to think he's just as good as Xabi. I wonder if Rafa can make that deal work and spread the money well.
I remember him. And to be honest, Defour's probably the name I'm most intrigued by as Alonso's "replacement," even though I've only seen him a handful of times (most notably the tie against Liverpool). There's a decent discussion of his talents going on in the RAWK summer transfer forum.
I thought Fellaini was better in both of Liege's games against Liverpool, but Defour, as well as Decamargo, were good in central midfield, especially in the first leg in Liege. Outplayed the Alonso/Plessis pairing.
That he's captain of Liege at age 20 and a key part of an improving national side are also positives; Rafa likes having as many captains on the field anyway (ste, masch, benayoun, torres).
I don't think Defour can be the only purchase, because he's still quite young, not there yet, and would need time to adjust to English football. But Lucas will probably be the starter come a week from Sunday regardless.
So yeah, I'd wouldn't mind Defour as long as he's not the only purchase.
Cheer up, Nate. Season will be here soon enough.
Nate you called it on the Aqueduct playing higher up, just what Rafa said, between Mascherano and Stevie.
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