Alonso submits transfer request

XABI ALONSO’S Liverpool career appeared to be coming towards an end as he arrived for training yesterday.

The midfielder expects to hold talks with manager Rafael Benitez as Real Madrid are believed to be preparing an improved, bid for the 28-year-old.

A club source has now confirmed that Alonso has submitted a transfer request, with the Spanish player having previously only told Benitez verbally that he wanted to leave the club.

Now if Madrid produce an offer of at least £28million (€32m), the chances are that Benitez will agree to sell the man he signed from Real Sociedad for £10m (€11.7m) in August 2004.

Alonso flew back from Spain yesterday, having spent three days with his family in San Sebastian, determined to end a summer-long saga over his future.

Benitez has defiantly refused to let Alonso leave, and Real’s only official bid of £24m (€28m) was rejected. But a formal transfer request clearly changes the situation.

Since that first bid, both parties have been engaged in a war of words over the deal, with Real president Florentino Perez maintaining Liverpool’s valuation was much too high.

Benitez had talks with Alonso during Liverpool’s Far East tour last week, and tried to convince the player to stay, underlining the fans’ delirious response to the player in Bangkok and Singapore as a reason to think again.

But on Liverpool’s return to the UK, Benitez told Alonso that he wanted the uncertainty around the player’s future to be sorted out before the weekend, one way or another.

Now the deadlock looks like being broken, just 24 hours after the two clubs agreed a £3.5m (€4.1m) fee for Anfield full-back Alvaro Arbeloa to move to Real.

By the time that the Alonso fee is in Liverpool’s coffers, and also £4m (€4.6m) for Andrea Dossena’s move to Napoli, Benitez will have around £40m (€47m) to spend on the transfer market.

Benitez has already raised around £8m (€9.3m) from the sales of Arbeloa, Sebastian Leto, Jack Hobbs and Paul Anderson. He has been linked with Wigan midfielder Lee Cattermole, Hull defender Michael Turner, Valencia’s David Silva and Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani.

Benitez is aware that the new Premier League season is little more than a fortnight away, and he needs to move quickly to find a replacement for Alonso, otherwise the club’s preparation for the campaign will be disrupted.

Liverpool legend Ray Clemence believes Alonso’s expected departure from Anfield would deliver a serious blow to the Reds’ title hopes.

Alonso has spent five years at the heart of the Liverpool midfield and Clemence, who spent 14 years at the club, believes his exit would significantly weaken the Reds’ prospects of picking up their first league title since 1990.

“If he does go it will leave a massive hole in the midfield and, because of the lateness of all this happening, Rafa (Benitez) will have such a short time to try and replace a man with the same quality,” said Clemence.

“He (Alonso) is an unsung hero. He just sits there, wins ball and can play long and short passes. He knows where to find (Steven) Gerrard, he knows the sort of balls that (Fernando) Torres likes.

“(Javier) Mascherano and Alonso work so well together and Alonso has that range of passing that I don’t see that anyone else has at the club.”

Alonso is thought to have been unsettled by Benitez’s attempts last summer to sign Gareth Barry from Aston Villa.

Nevertheless, the former Real Sociedad player starred for Liverpool last season, making 47 appearances in a side that pushed Manchester United all the way for the title.

Clemence hinted that Alonso’s relationship with Benitez had become strained, causing the player to seek a return to his homeland.

“I hear that there was some problem between him and Rafa at some stage last season – some sort of discussion or argument or whatever and it would appear that that hasn’t been resolved,” he added.

While the saga of Alonso transfer continues Arbeloa’s move to the Bernabeu has been conducted with far less rancour.

The player passed a medical yesterday and has now signed a five-year contract. He said of his time at Anfield: “Liverpool are a club with an impressive history, with lots of success.

“In England they are the team with the most titles, so I’ve already experienced that pressure and I hope that will help me now with this challenge, which is clearly the biggest in my career.’’

The transfer will see Arbeloa rejoin the club where he began his professional career after Real plucked him from Real Zaragoza’s youth set-up.

However, the full-back was restricted to just two senior run-outs during his first spell at the Bernabeu and he is determined to improve on that figure this time around.

He added: “My objective is to give it everything in training and try to win myself a place in the team, which is the objective of any player.

“And of course I want to help my team-mates and the team to win titles, which in the end is what counts.”