Sacrificed: Xabi Alonso is set to join Real Madrid
in a £30m deal to part-fund Liverpool's £17m signing of Portsmouth
and England defender Glen Johnson
Real Madrid have made a renewed bid for
Liverpool midfielder Xabi
Alonso and expect to sign him in a £30million deal. The move comes
just hours after Liverpool agreed a £17m deal for
Portsmouth full-back Glen
Johnson ahead of competition from
Chelsea. And that will signal
the £8million departure of Alvaro Arbeloa to Real Madrid
too.
Real's pursuit of Alonso has been dogged. They made an approach
for the Spain midfielder last month and tabled a £20m offer but
Liverpool were reluctant to sell.
Yet, despite his new Galacticos era, Florentino Perez has been
put under pressure by fans to bring in Spanish players and Alonso
and Arbeloa will go a long way to appease them.
Chelsea had also inquired about the 27-year-old Alonso but Rafa
Benitez did not want to sell to his Premier League rivals. Alonso
has made it clear he was not entirely happy working with Benitez
and a move to Madrid will suit both parties.
Benitez will now concentrate on trying to keep Javier
Mascherano, despite Barcelona's interest, and will use the funds
from Alonso's transfer to continue re-building his team.
The signing of Johnson, as exclusively revealed by Sportsmail, will help persuade new
recruits that Liverpool still mean business.
Liverpool, who have also made a £2m offer for Portsmouth
defender Sylvain Distin, have also recruited two promising
16-year-olds - Aaron King a striker from Blue Square Premier club
Rushden & Diamonds and midfielder Jesus Fernandez Saez, known
as Suso, from Cadiz. Suso was also a target for Barcelona and Real
Madrid.
Glen Johnson:
