Xabi Alonso waits calmly to see if Liverpool and other interest materialises

Xabi Alonso waits calmly to see if Liverpool and other interest materialises

According to reports in Portugal, Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso may be on his way out of the club with claims he could return to his old club Liverpool. Alonso spent five seasons at Liverpool and helped them to victory in the 2005 Champions League by scoring in the final. The Spanish international is currently out injured and will face competition when he does return.

Portuguese newspaper Record reported this morning that Real Madrid are weighing up the option of letting the player leave when the transfer window reopens in the New Year. Alonso’s contract runs out in July 2014 and there have been no concrete plans to extend his contract beyond this. The Spanish club will want to get some transfer fee for the midfielder and will be looking to set his price at €5m.

Although this is a low fee for somebody with his experience the club may struggle to receive this much for a player who is who turns 32 years old soon. It has been reported that Liverpool would have competition from Juventus, Fiorentina and Napoli to land the player but Napoli in particular are club that could provide Liverpool with a serious threat in signing the player. The Serie A club hired former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez in the summer and he was the one who brought Alonso to Anfield in 2004. Alonso could be reunited with former Liverpool teammate Pepe Renia if he did decides to link up with Benitez again, but then there's always the danger of Alonso still feeling a bit insulted after Benitez repeatedly tried to replace him with Gareth Barry.

Alonso will know it will be difficult to force his way back into the Real Madrid starting eleven when he does return from injury. Madrid have signed Asier Illaramendi from Real Sociedad for a big fee and he looks like the long term replacement for Alonso. Luka Modric is now showing the form that got him his move from Tottenham Hotspur to Real Madrid and they also have German international Sami Khedira in their ranks.

Record claim that Alonso is waiting calmly to see what transpires over the next few months in regards to his Real Madrid future and interest from other clubs, with Liverpool named. 

Alonso exit stories have also been reported over the last 24 hours by the Spanish version of Goal.com who put Inter Milan at the head of interested clubs and Spanish newspaper AS who also reported Italian interest. Whether the Liverpool link is merely down to sentimental reasoning is anyone's guess but if Brendan Rodgers fancies a classy and experienced addition to his midfield then he could do much worse.