Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has held talks with Real Madrid target Xabi Alonso and has urged the midfielder to stay at Anfield.
Spanish giants Real have made no secret of their desire to take the £35million-rated Reds star to the Bernabeu as they look to continue lavish summer spending.
Liverpool have stood firm and refused to budge from their valuation of Alonso, despite the Spaniard admitting he was flattered by Real's interest.
Benitez
held talks with the 27-year-old on Friday during the Reds pre-season
tour of Asia and has used supporters' admiration as an example of why
he should stay.
"I talked to Xabi yesterday and told him, as he can see here, that the fans love him and I said to him, 'maybe you have to stay," Benitez said on Saturday.
"You can see he is a really good player and I'll be really pleased if he stays. All the players and his team-mates want him to stay. If we keep Xabi I will be very pleased."
Alonso has received rapturous support from fans in Singapore and he is expected to play some part in Liverpool's game against the national team on Sunday.
skysports.
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has revealed crunch talks with Xabi Alonso over his desire to move to Real Madrid.
"I talked to Xabi yesterday and told him, as he can see here, that the fans love him and I said to him, 'maybe you have to stay," Benitez said today.
"You can see he is a really good player and I'll be really pleased if he stays. All the players and his team-mates want him to stay. If we keep Xabi I will be very pleased."
Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez wants Xabi Alonso to go public with his plans.
Real Madrid remain keen on Xabi and after victory over Singapore, Benitez said: "It's a question that you have to ask him.
"Honestly, we've been talking about this for two months but I think that it is a question for him and not for us.
"He has three years on his contract and we know he is a great player - that's why we signed him and renewed his contract. So you have to ask him."
Make your mind up time: Alonso
Real Madrid are ready to resume talks with Liverpool over midfielder Xabi Alonso. Alonso has made it clear that he wants to move to Madrid but Anfield manager Rafa Benitez is still hoping he can be convinced to stay.
Benitez said: ‘I think it’s a question for him, not us. We signed him five years ago and we renewed his contract two years ago.
‘We know that he’s a great player and that’s the reason we signed him and renewed his contract. We were not talking with Real Madrid and he knows our position. I was very clear the other day. He is our player and has three more years on his contract. At the end of the day it all depends on him.’
Real Madrid’s hopes of signing Xabi Alonso from Liverpool have been significantly boosted following a series of event over the past 24 hours.
Reds manager, Rafa Benitez has handed the midfielder an ultimatum to make a decision about his future within the next 48 hours, while reports have also emerged that the club must pay ₤60 million (€69m) of their debt by the end of the year as part of their refinancing deal.
And with the a further stipulation that ₤40m (€46m) will have to be settled this week, Spanish daily, AS believe that it will force the Merseysiders to re-consider and perhaps even accept Madrid’s offer for Xabi in order to generate enough funds to meet the payment deadline.
As things stand, Los Merengues last offer of €27 million has still received no response from Anfield but the paper has reported that negotiations between the two clubs reconvened yesterday.
And it is has now been speculated that the Spanish giants are willing to improve the bid to a little over €30 million.
Xabi has already returned to San Sebastian in Spain to go on a three-day vacation with his family as Liverpool do not resume training until Thursday. He is expected to sort out his future by then.
Real Madrid are ready to walk away from the negotiating table for Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.
Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool manager, is refusing to lower his £32 million asking price for the Spain international despite the long-running saga threatening to overshadow preparations for the start of the new season, says The Times.
"Some people obviously thought that because we said we wanted more Spanish players, they could ask for fees which don't correspond to reality," said Real president Perez said.
"A year ago, certain players we've asked about would have cost less than half the price we're being quoted now. If necessary, we'll find the Spanish players we would like for the squad in our youth system."
Exit strategy: Xabi Alonso lines up against Singapore on Sunday in what could have been his last Liverpool appearance.
Liverpool have reportedly given Real Madrid a 48-hour deadline to come up with the cash for Xabi Alonso. The Spain midfielder looks increasingly close to sealing a move to the Bernabeu and was photographed at Madrid's Barajas airport on Monday evening, hours after flying into England following Liverpool's Asian tour.
Madrid's long pursuit appears to have paid off, with reports in Spain suggesting Liverpool will accept less than £30million to sell both Alonso and right-back Alvaro Arbeloa to the club.
Liverpool had started the summer demanding at least £40m for 27-year-old Alonso and had hoped to claim £8m for Arbeloa, 26, who has just a year left on his Anfield contract.
But Madrid have dug in their heels and have warned they would not pay silly money despite splashing out almost £200m on Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Raul Albiol.
The Spanish giants' president Florentino Perez said: 'Some people obviously thought that because we said we wanted more Spanish players, they could ask for fees which don't correspond to reality.
Tour de force: Xabi Alonso meets Liverpool fans at a youth clinic in Singapore
'A year ago, certain players we've asked about would have cost less than half the price we're being quoted now. 'If necessary, we'll find the Spanish players we would like for the squad in our youth system.'
Marca's front page on Tuesday shows Xabi Alonso at Madrid's Barajas airport on Monday evening
Madrid expect to complete the Arbeloa signing imminently after the defender told Spanish newspaper Marca he had agreed a five-year deal. His transfer is separate from Alonso's and will reportedly go through for just £3.5m.
The two clubs are thought to be about £2.5m apart on Alonso after Liverpool dropped their demands to about £26m after the warnings from Perez.
Rafa Benitez has grown tired of fielding questions about the transfer tug-of-war. Spanish newspaper AS says the Liverpool boss took Alonso to one side before they left Singapore and told him: 'I want you to resolve your situation as soon as possible, for better or worse.
'Ideally the transfer is resolved in 48 hours. I need some time to find a replacement.'
After Alonso reiterated his desire to leave, Benitez reportedly said he would not stand in the way and Madrid are confident of signing the former Real Sociedad player on a four-year deal.
While Liverpool want to quickly resolve the issue, Madrid's difficulties in offloading players could prove a stumbling block.
General director Jorge Valdano last week said there would have to be departures before anyone else was signed and that stance was reiterated on Monday by Perez, who pointed out they already had 29 first-team players vying to get in a squad of 25.
Madrid fear Tottenham will not follow up interest in Klaas-Jan Huntelaar following Harry Redknapp's capture of Peter Crouch from Portsmouth, while buyers have also not been forthcoming for Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Royston Drenthe, Alvaro Negredo, Mahamadou Diarra or Gabriel Heinze, among other out-of-favour players.
Not too shabby: Alberto Aquilani (left) takes on Chelsea's John Mikel Obi at Stamford Bridge last season
Liverpool may already have seen the last of Alonso, who had been told not to report for training till Thursday. He quickly took the opportunity on Monday to leave for Spain, shortly after 16-hour trip from Singapore to England.
Alonso flew into Barajas, apparently stopping there en route to San Sebastian where he has a home. Reports in Spain and Italy say Benitez has already lined up Roma's Alberto Aquilani as a replacement, with the cash-strapped club ready to sacrifice the 25-year-old international.
Liverpool have also been linked to Inter Milan's Esteban Cambiasso and Marseille's Mathieu Valbuena, among others.
seem like our Singapore Plan fail
if he leave, get silva
