[lfc-news] Benítez in for £12m Xabi Alonso - Guardian

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The Guardian, 9 Aug 2004
Benítez in for £12m Xabi Alonso
By Dominic Fifield

Liverpool will attempt to secure the signing of the Real Sociedad
midfielder Xabi Alonso this week after agreeing to sell Danny Murphy to
Tottenham Hotspur for £2.5m.

Rafael Benítez was at Goodison Park on Saturday to watch the 22-year-old
Spain international play the first half of a 2-2 friendly draw with
Everton. The Anfield club will instigate talks today and are ready to offer
about £12m for a player who interested Real Madrid this summer and more
recently attracted scouts from Arsenal.

Liverpool had originally targeted Alonso, primarily considered a defensive
midfielder, to succeed Steven Gerrard when the England international
appeared intent on a move to Chelsea. Gerrard's subsequent decision to
remain at Anfield briefly cooled Benítez's interest, until now.

Should Liverpool's pursuit prove successful Alonso would become his
compatriot's second signing, after the arrival of the defender Josemi,
another Spaniard.

Benítez retains a tentative interest in Manchester City's Shaun
Wright-Phillips though he is reluctant to spend his limited funds on a
player he knows little about.

That could work in Tottenham's favour. The Londoners hope to follow up
Murphy's signing with that of Wright-Phillips. Their initial bid of £4.5m
for the 22-year-old was rejected and they upped it to £5.5m last night, but
City value him at twice that amount.

"I'm not surprised that there's interest in Shaun given that he is one of
the Premiership most talented young players," said a City spokesman. "Shaun
is pivotal to our future plans and we have no desire to sell him.
Negotiations are under way as regards a new contract."

The midfielder has two years to run on his current deal but his friendship
with the Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe could tempt him to move to White
Hart Lane.

Regardless, Tottenham are confident of completing Murphy's transfer in the
next 48 hours despite the threat of late interest from Everton and
Charlton. Murphy's surprise sale after a seven-year association with
Liverpool will leave Benítez's side stretched in midfield for their
Champions League qualifier against Grazer AK in Austria tomorrow, not to
mention for the start of the Premiership season next weekend.

In the likely absence of the injured Gerrard, Benítez is likely to favour a
quartet of Harry Kewell, Dietmar Hamann, Salif Diao and Steve Finnan at the
Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium.

Liverpool's interest in Alonso has also illustrated the shift in favour
after the managerial change in the summer. Benítez has instigated something
of a cull of the ancien régime's playing squad, most notably loaning out a
succession of recruits from French football and replaced them with two
Spaniards. Liverpool's squad suddenly appears to need urgent strengthening,
with the sale of Emile Heskey to Birmingham, a host of players sent out on
loan for a season, El Hadji Diouf set to join the exodus this week, most
probably to Málaga, Milan Baros's desire to join Barcelona and the absence
of Vladimir Smicer, whose ruptured knee ligaments will confine him to the
treatment room for six months.


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