Rafa wants Alonso & Mascherano to show loyalty to Liverpool

zocoss SG

Rafa Benitez believes Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano owe it to Liverpool to stay at the club.

Midfield duo Alonso and Mascherano have both been strongly linked with moves away from Anfield to Spain this summer.

Real Madrid have openly declared their interest in Spanish ace Alonso, while Barcelona are keeping tabs on Mascherano.

Benitez is confident the key duo will remain on Merseyside and he has revealed he would like the pair to show some loyalty to Liverpool.

"I do not think Alonso or Mascherano will go. It is clear that they both are under contract with long-term agreements. That is it," insisted Benitez.

"There has been a lot of things written, a lot of rumours, but both players are under contract and we have no more need to talk about things.

"They are both very good players and I will be very pleased to keep them. They both have very good contracts.

"We signed them both from different situations. Alonso was coming from Real Sociedad and nobody had really heard much of him outside of Spain, he did well and we renewed his contract because of that.

"Mascherano came from West Ham where he had not been doing well. We brought him here and gave him a good contract, so we are very pleased with them both and that Liverpool has been very good to them."

limpper SG

i really hope they do declare their loyalty too, liverpool really cant afford to lose any one of this two players

marcteng SG

their heads had already been turned.

for alonso, i empathised with him, as last season, rafa was the one who wanted to buy barry and then tried to sell him. cant blame him for leaving.

zocoss SG

I'VE GOT YOU ... Rafa Benitez says Javier Mascherano must stay at Liverpool

Rafa: You owe me

Where Alonso kicks off the new season remains in doubt as Real are adamant they are still in the hunt, despite disagreeing with the Reds' £35million price tag for the Spanish international.

Alonso, 27, is keen to go and Mascherano's agent freely admits the Argy is flattered at being targeted by the Champions League winners.

But boss Benitez thinks the time has come for the pair to repay the faith he showed in them by signing them in the first place.

Mascherano, 25, was playing second fiddle to the mighty Hayden Mullins at West Ham when Rafa signed him in January 2007.

And Alonso was just a youngster with huge potential at Real Sociedad before his £10.5m move five years ago.

Benitez said: "We signed Xabi when no one knew him, then renewed his contract two years ago and it seemed he was happy.

"With Mascherano, you know the situation, so both players know they owe Liverpool a lot. "They are players the fans like and they owe us, in terms of loyalty. "We have to be very clear - we are preparing our squad for next season, not talking of selling players."

At least in Glen Johnson, his £18m capture from Portsmouth, Benitez knows he has a man who was more tempted by the prospect of silverware than pieces of silver.

England defender Johnson, 24, was officially introduced as a Liverpool player yesterday. Benitez believes he could be the difference between last year's runners-up spot and Anfield's first league title since 1990.

The Kop chief added: "Last season we finished four points off Manchester United. Now, with the squad we already have improving a bit, it is even better.