Alonso latest

It appears Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is not going to budge on his fee for Xabi Alonso. The Telegraph says: “Real Madrid will still have to match Rafael Benitez's £30 million asking price if they are to land the Liverpool midfielder despite the player handing in a formal transfer request.” However the story adds that “both sides are believed to want the saga to come to a conclusion early next week.”

However Xabi Alonso is due to fly to Spain with the Liverpool squad ahead of their friendly against Espanyol. The Independent says “a final decision is likely to be taken after the squad have trained” today “ahead of an afternoon flight.” However due to a stalemate between the clubs on a transfer fee “a decision on the deal is now not expected until Monday.”

Rafael Benitez “has previously said that he is not interested in taking any Real players in the deal and wants a cash-only agreement.”

“The players on offer are Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Alvaro Negredo and Rafael van der Vaart,” according to the aticle.