ALONSO: BENITEZ DOESN'T WANT ME.Byline: DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. MADDOCK XABI ALONSO Xabier Alonso Olano, commonly known as Xabi (prounounced Shabi) Alonso and often misspelt as Xavi Alonso (born 25 November 1981 in Tolosa, Basque Region, Spain) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Liverpool F.C.. will force showdown talks over his future after failing to be convinced he is wanted at Anfield. The Liverpool midfielder has made clear his desire to move to Real Madrid following two successive summers where he felt manager Rafa Benitez was trying to sell him. The Spanish midfielder has yet to officially ask for a transfer but he doesn't believe he can remain at Anfield after a breakdown in his relationship with the Liverpool boss. Alonso was devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. last summer when Benitez openly tried to sell him to Juventus, and then put him on general sale at around pounds 15million. He worked hard to save his Anfield career and was voted the club's player of the season. But Benitez put a pounds 35m asking price on his head when Real Madrid made an enquiry at the start of this summer, and that has persuaded the midfielder his future lies elsewhere. The Anfield manager has made no secret of the fact he will sell Alonso at the right price, and now the Spanish international will seek showdown talks to resolve the situation. Alonso believes the price set is too high, given that he was touted around at just pounds 15m last summer. He will this week ask Benitez to be more reasonable and allow him to return to Spain after five years at Anfield. If Benitez gets his asking price then it will be pounds 25m more than he paid for the elegant midfielder when he snatched him from Real Sociedad for pounds 10m in 2004. Alonso is due back in training this weekend but hopes to have his future resolved by then. He believes that he isn''t wanted at Anfield, and that the current stance from his manager is merely to inflate inflate - deflate what he will argue is an over-the-top valuation. CAPTION(S): WHEEL THING Rafa in Switzerland yesterday WATCH ME GO Alonso wants to quit |
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