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Report: Benitez Tells Alonso To Sort Liverpool Future By Weekend
Press reports in England indicate that the Spanish manager is becoming exasperated by the ongoing speculation surrounding the Reds' Basque midfielder.
Jul 28, 2009 3:13:01 PM
Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has issued a forceful mandate to his unsettled midfielder Xabi Alonso, and told him to sort out his future by the weekend, according to a report in The Guardian.
The player has been heavily linked with Real Madrid for the entire summer since the season ended in May, and the report suggests that Benitez has reached the end of his patience with the situation, and wants to force the Madrid side's hand by insisting that they match the Reds' valuation, believed to be around £30 million, or end their interest in the player.
The player himself reportedly told Benitez he wanted to leave at the start of the summer, but the decision is now seemingly Madrid's to make, with the Spanish giants in no hurry to meet the Reds' asking price.
Los Blancos are believed to have made an initial offer of €27m (£24m), with Liverpool holding out for something closer to €40m (£36m), even though they were reportedly happy to sell the Basque, currently in San Sebastian on holiday, for half that amount last year.
Contact between the clubs has apparently been limited over the summer, and Madrid president Florentino Perez has intimated at times that he is ready to abandon the deal. However, with so much bluff and counter-bluff characterizing the deal, it is difficult to assess where negotiations currently stand.
Benitez, though, seems set to try and sort the matter one way or another this week, with the Premier League season opening on August 15, two weeks before the new campaign kicks off in Spain.
Zack Wilson, Goal.com
For more news on England, visit Goal.com's England section
The player has been heavily linked with Real Madrid for the entire summer since the season ended in May, and the report suggests that Benitez has reached the end of his patience with the situation, and wants to force the Madrid side's hand by insisting that they match the Reds' valuation, believed to be around £30 million, or end their interest in the player.
The player himself reportedly told Benitez he wanted to leave at the start of the summer, but the decision is now seemingly Madrid's to make, with the Spanish giants in no hurry to meet the Reds' asking price.
Los Blancos are believed to have made an initial offer of €27m (£24m), with Liverpool holding out for something closer to €40m (£36m), even though they were reportedly happy to sell the Basque, currently in San Sebastian on holiday, for half that amount last year.
Contact between the clubs has apparently been limited over the summer, and Madrid president Florentino Perez has intimated at times that he is ready to abandon the deal. However, with so much bluff and counter-bluff characterizing the deal, it is difficult to assess where negotiations currently stand.
Benitez, though, seems set to try and sort the matter one way or another this week, with the Premier League season opening on August 15, two weeks before the new campaign kicks off in Spain.
Zack Wilson, Goal.com
For more news on England, visit Goal.com's England section
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