Real Madrid to Miss Xabi Alonso for 10 Weeks

Real Madrid will miss the service of their Summer signing Xabi Alonso for at least 10 days as the midfielder sustained a right leg injury during Madrid’s 5-2 victory away at FC Zurich in Champions league. The Spanish international could not even stay on the pitch throughout 90 minutes because of the injury. So, it is pretty much certain that Alonso will be sidelined for Real Madrid’s upcoming home and away matches against Xerez and Villarreal respectively.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid’s German international Christoph Metzelder has also been sidelined for 3 weeks after picking up a calf injury.

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New York Times

Xabi Alonso: Now a Real Madrid Player

Xabi Alonso has finally moved to Real Madrid for a £30m deal between the Spanish giants and English outfit Liverpool. For the last few weeks, Alonso has been linked with a move to Bernabeu. Alonso has been the eighth signing of Real Madrid this summer since the return of Florentino Pérez as the president of the club for the third terms.

Real Madrid’s spending spree has been the talk of the issue during the ongoing Summer transfer window and the Spanish club has already spent around £215m so far by signing the star players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, and Jorge Valdano, the director general of Real Madrid, has indicated that Alonso is the last signing for Real Madrid in the current transfer window.

Real Madrid initially offered £25m for the Spanish midfielder which was rejected by Liverpool and at one point of time, it seemed that Real Madrid would give up on Alonso this time also. However, following Real’s failure to sign French midfielder Franck Ribery, Real Madrid became more determined to sign the playmaker.

Well, I think, Xabi Alonso could be the perfect signing for Real Madrid. The club has already signed some of today’s best offensive players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka and Karim Benzema. They have also signed a quality defender Álvaro Arbeloa from Liverpool. So, what they needed was a midfielder who could build up the attack from the midfield and coordinate between defense and attack effectively. Alonso is the perfect player for this role. He was in good form throughout the last season both with his club and his country.

Florentino Pérez’s first two terms brought a number of success in the Madrid based club in the presence of some of the best players of that time including Zidane, Ronaldo (Brazilian), Figo, Roberto Carlos and David Beckham. However, the player who was instrumental behind the club’s success was none other than Claude Makélélé who was the most influential defensive midfielder of that time. I think, Alonso could play the role of Makélélé in the current squad. So, I think, Xabi Alonso would be decisinve for Real Madrid in the upcoming season.

Xabi Alonso Finally Moving to Real Madrid?

It has been a long-standing rumor that Xabi Alonso would move to Real Madrid. Well, it seems that Real Madrid has moved very close on a deal for the Liverpool midfielder. Barcelona-based newspaper Sport reported that the two came under a deal worth €32 million along with a performance based €3m clause.

Real Madrid officials held a meeting with Liverpool officials recently when the Reds were in Barcelona to face Espanyol in a pre-season friendly match. However, the possible date and the amount of the deal are not yet confirmed. The paper has also reported that it is just a matter of time Alonso would move to Real Madrid this summer, and the deal would be announced very soon.

However, Liverpool has made it clear that it would not compromise with Real Madrid over the valuation of the Spanish international. Still, Real Madrid is trying its best to reduce Liverpool’s asking price as much as possible, but there is no indication that Real would give up in their attempt to sign the midfielder even if Liverpool stick to their asking price for Xabi Alonso.

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Goal.com

Xabi Alonso Formally Requested Liverpool for a Real Madrid Move

Spanish international Xabi Alonso has finally made a formal request to Liverpool authority asking for a move to Real Madrid in Summer. The midfielder has been linked with a move to the Spanish giant since last year when Rafael Benitez wanted to raise fund for landing Gareth Barry by selling Alonso. No doubt, Alonso has contributed a lot to the team’s success last season and Benitez does not want to lose the influential holding midfielder.

However, Alonso has earlier verbally expressed to Benitez that he is looking for a move away from Anfield this Summer. Real Madrid has already had a £24m bid rejected by the English club. Liverpool’s £30m valuation of the player has not matched with Real Madrid budget for the player.

Now that Alonso has formally handed in a transfer request, his move to La Liga seems pretty much imminent now. The issue is now up to the two clubs if they can come under a deal for the Alonso move. Here, one thing is pretty much certain that Liverpool would find it difficult to fill up the void left by Alonso in the holding midfield position, while Alonso could be a much-needed inclusion in the Real Madrid squad.

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ESPN Soccernet