Benitez has 30 Million to Spend

[Antynwa]

Would it be un-fair to say that he has no excuses? He can and should bring in an ideal replacement for Xabi, and that replacement should be a success.

 

Or is it a case of re-building, and we will apparently be lucky to finish 4th?

 

It truly is 'no-excuses' time in my eyes.

[Guest Ulysses Everett McGill]

Would it be un-fair to say that he has no excuses? He can and should bring in an ideal replacement for Xabi, and that replacement should be a success.

 

Or is it a case of re-building, and we will apparently be lucky to finish 4th?

 

It truly is 'no-excuses' time in my eyes.

 

No excuse for what, not winning the league?

 

Don't be ridiculous

[philyhamann]

He has more than that doesn't he

[Moschops II]

Let's see if he's got 30 million to spend before we start laying down our demands from behind our keyboards.

[Antynwa]

No excuse for what, not winning the league?

 

Don't be ridiculous

 

It's time to deliver, a European Cup or a League Title, our closest rivals have lost two key player and have spent pretty much the same as us. Arsenal are weaker, and Chelsea have improved slightly.

 

City granted have made some massive strides, but nothing to challenge us IMO.

 

He has a 'warchest'.

 

He doesn't have Parry

 

Net Spend isn't an issue

 

He has control.

 

Time to deliver Rafa

[Byrnie]

How do you know he has the full 30m aunty nwa?

 

I'll be happy if he does but that remains to be seen.

Apart from the Keane debacle he has got his big money signings spot on in my opinion so i trust Rafa to spend what money he has wisely.

 

Although we all would have prefered not to lose any first teamers and get two top players in,but thats life.

[Antynwa]

Let's see if he's got 30 million to spend before we start laying down our demands from behind our keyboards.

 

30-25 Million then. Sorry.

[Guest Ulysses Everett McGill]

It's time to deliver, a European Cup or a League Title, our closest rivals have lost two key player and have spent pretty much the same as us. Arsenal are weaker, and Chelsea have improved slightly.

 

City granted have made some massive strides, but nothing to challenge us IMO.

 

He has a 'warchest'.

 

He doesn't have Parry

 

Net Spend isn't an issue

 

He has control.

 

Time to deliver Rafa

 

 

So, if we lose the title on goal difference and the European Cup Final due to a dodgy penalty, he should be sacked?

 

He might have a sizeable warchest, but he also has a massive hole in his side that needs filling

 

It's not as if he's been handed a cheque for £30-35 million for fuck all

[stringvest]

It's a bit extreme, this no-excuses thing. Sadly, we can't realistically expect to win anything these days. If we go backwards, that would be a little disappointing though - and I certainly wouldn't like to hear any further excuses if that happens.

[Moschops II]

30-25 Million then. Sorry.

 

That's all right. Just don't do it again.

 

Seriously, though. Don't.

[Antynwa]

So, if we lose the title on goal difference and the European Cup Final due to a dodgy penalty, he should be sacked?

 

Of Course not.

 

But if we end up drawing or losing to shit teams and essentially losing the league thanks to that. I think we will need a change, but it will have to be analysed at the end of the season.

 

Do you or do you not believe at this time in Rafa's reign that he should be delivering silver ware?

[The Chief]

Would it be un-fair to say that he has no excuses? He can and should bring in an ideal replacement for Xabi, and that replacement should be a success.

 

Or is it a case of re-building, and we will apparently be lucky to finish 4th?

 

It truly is 'no-excuses' time in my eyes.

 

No excuses for not bringing in Xabi's replacement? How about the fact that there's no one as good as him out there?

 

Although I do think Rafa needs to win a trophy this year, and I'm praying it's the league title.

[JMARKH]

Hopefully the gobshites will give him the 30 million plus whatever else we should have, I somehow doubt it though.

[Antynwa]

No excuses for not bringing in Xabi's replacement? How about the fact that there's no one as good as him out there?

 

Although I do think Rafa needs to win a trophy this year, and I'm praying it's the league title.

 

If Rafa is the genius that many profess he should be able to find a suitable replacement for 30 Million.

 

It's not as if he's working on a shoe string here.

[Tossed and blown]

Would it be un-fair to say that he has no excuses? He can and should bring in an ideal replacement for Xabi, and that replacement should be a success.

 

Or is it a case of re-building, and we will apparently be lucky to finish 4th?

 

It truly is 'no-excuses' time in my eyes.

 

It's not like he's repairing a car is it? What if the player he wants won't come? I doubt there's an exact replacement out there so there'll be some adjustments to the team. There's an inherent risk in everything.

[philyhamann]

well we should win something. 4 seasons without a trophy would be a joke.

[ZZZZ]

If Rafa is the genius that many profess he should be able to find a suitable replacement for 30 Million.

 

It's not as if he's working on a shoe string here.

 

Unfortunately its not as easy as that.

 

Its not like replacing a car.

 

Did ferguson replace Ronaldo with a suitable replacement???

 

Alonso has gone for the 7th highest transfer fee of all time. 3 above him moved this summer, and the other 3 are retired. So who do you go after.

 

At the end of the day, it will not easy or dare I say even possible to replace Alonso. But its not about 1 player.

 

Its about the big picture.

[Josef Svejk]

Aquilani to fill gap left by Alonso

Italian set for Anfield after Real Madrid seal £30m deal for Reds' Spanish midfielder

 

By Sam Wallace [Independent]

Wednesday, 5 August

 

Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani should be on his way to Liverpool this week after Rafael Benitez finally agreed to sell Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid

 

Liverpool expect to close the deal for Roma's £17m midfielder Alberto Aquilani in the next week after finally agreeing to Xabi Alonso's £30m departure to Real Madrid yesterday. The contract for Aquiliani has been in place for some time and the move can now go ahead after weeks of brinkmanship over Alonso.

 

With Liverpool's first Premier League game of the season 12 days' away, Benitez has once again proved himself a durable negotiator, holding out for a price of £30m for a player he valued at little more than half that last season. Having held out for a price they made clear was non-negotiable during talks in Spain last week Liverpool last night announced they had "reached agreement for the sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid, subject only to a medical".

 

Aquilani, 25, has long been his first choice as a replacement and Roma's financial difficulties have allowed Liverpool to take advantage. One of the fans' homegrown favourites at Roma – along with Francesco Totti and Daniele de Rossi – his signing is something of a coup given that he plays for a club that has been resistant to selling their best players.

 

The sale of Aquilani should mean that Roma – who were the subject of a failed takeover bid by the agent Vinicio Fioranelli last month – will not have to sell again this summer thus quashing any hopes that Arsenal's Arsène Wenger had of prising away De Rossi. The midfielder can play in the role formerly occupied by Alonso alongside Javier Mascherano in the pairing that operates in front of the back four.

 

Alonso follows Alvaro Arbeloa from Liverpool to Madrid, providing further evidence that Florentino Perez's new regime has the power to take key players from the Premier League's best teams. Although it took longer than the negotiations for Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer this summer, Perez has once against demonstrated that although he usually gets his man he also has to pay the asking price.

 

The end of Alonso's five-year spell at the club means that Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher are the only two players still at Anfield who featured in the club's Champions League final victory over Milan in Istanbul four years ago. Despite Alonso's impressive last season at the club, his relationship with Benitez has been damaged by the Liverpool manager's attempt to sell him last summer to Juventus to fund the bid for Gareth Barry.

 

Alonso had made it clear this time that he was determined to leave. He will be Real Madrid's fifth major signing this summer after Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Raul Albiol. At 28, and signed from Real Sociedad for £10.4m, he will remain one of Benitez's best-ever signings.

 

Liverpool and Manchester United both intend to meet with Valencia officials this week to discuss the availability of David Silva and David Villa. Both players, especially Villa, have proved impossible to budge this summer, and any breakthrough would probably be for Silva and at more than £20m. Valencia are in England to play friendlies against United today and Arsenal on Saturday.

[Unrighteous]

God... I hope he suddenly gets Wolverine like healing powers and adamantium encased bones.

[Megadrive Man]

The problem is, we won't get the sort of player we need for £30 million. The likes of David Villa and Frank Ribery are being touted at double that price, and the players we are being linked with, are not as good as Xabi, which will only make us weaker.

[philyhamann]

I can believe that the agreement is already there, and has been for a while.

[MLB]

Man, it really is going to be bittersweet for some people on here if we win the league next season...

[JMARKH]

Bit of a negative article this one, says not to get our hopes up on a Silva type deal.

 

30M ALONSO PRICE IS RIGHT

Story Image

 

 

I’LL REIGN IN SPAIN: Xabi Alonso will earn £80,000 a week after tax

 

Tuesday August 4,2009

By Paul Joyce

 

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(0)

 

RAFA BENITEZ emerged triumphant from his power struggle with Real Madrid last night after the Spaniards caved in and met Liverpool’s £30million asking price for Xabi Alonso.

 

Now the Liverpool manager will waste no time in immediately ploughing about £18m of the proceeds into sealing a deal for Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani as Alonso’s replacement.

 

Benitez hopes to sign Aquilani on a four-year deal before the end of the week as he seeks to offset the loss of one of his key performers.

 

Spanish midfielder Alonso had been due to fly to Oslo with the rest of Liverpool’s squad last night but, after first training in the afternoon, he pulled out of the trip for tonight’s friendly with FC Lyn.

 

He headed instead to Madrid after Real president Florentino Perez brought weeks of brinksmanship to an end by upping his offer for Alonso, 27, and agreeing a deal that could eventually net Liverpool the £30m fee they had been holding out for.

 

Alonso, who had submitted a transfer request last week, will undergo a medical today before signing a four-year deal worth £80,000 a week after tax in a move that will send Real’s remarkable summer of spending crashing through the £200m barrier.

 

It is unlikely Benitez will be given all of the proceeds from the sale to reinvest which is why he stuck so fiercely to his valuation.

 

A summer which was expected to signal a concerted push to build on last season’s second-place finish has so far failed to ignite and it will now require all of boss Rafa Benitez’s cunning to regain the momentum.

 

 

While Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has £80million burning a hole in his pocket, and Chelsea have been unable to pin down the marque signing that owner Roman Abramovich has promised, Benitez’s problems are conversely fuelled by the constraints that have become part of everyday life at the modern day Liverpool.

 

The £16m spent on Glen Johnson has effectively already been recouped, and the fact that Benitez is unlikely to be allowed to reinvest all of the £30m Real Madrid will now pay for Alonso has merely highlighted how stark financial realities are biting hard at Anfield.

 

So while an £18m deal for Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani will now be finalised, those supporters expecting money to also be lavished on long-standing target David Silva are likely to be disappointed. The prospect of Valencia and Spain winger Silva arriving was described as remote this week in what amounts to a sobering jolt.

 

As Benitez settled in his seat on the flight to Norway last night for this evening’s friendly with FC Lyn in Oslo, he will have had time to consider just how he will challenge Messrs Ferguson and Ancelotti on a budget that is more in line with that handed to Martin O’Neill at Aston Villa.

 

Benitez frequently stated that his side’s title challenge came up short last season because his squad lacked depth compared with Manchester United.

 

Yet Liverpool have already seen five players leave their ranks in 2009 – Robbie Keane, Sami Hyypia, Alvaro Arbeloa, Jermaine Pennant and Sebastian Leto – and as well as Alonso, there remains the prospect of Andrea Dossena being shipped out.

 

In addition to the recruitment of Johnson, only Andriy Voronin has been welcomed, in the very loosest of terms, back to the club after a loan spell at Hertha Berlin.

 

Liverpool’s fragile squad was highlighted in last Sunday’s 3-0 defeat by Espanyol when Jamie Carragher’s defensive partner was 17-year-old rookie Mikel San Jose.

 

The need for a centre-back is imperative, even though both Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel are expected to be fit for consideration for the opening Premier League game at Tottenham. But interest in Michael Turner has been held up by Hull’s £10m asking price.

 

Having only agreed a new five-year contract at the end of last season, the financial landscape at Liverpool will not have come as a total surprise for Benitez. And with money tight, his decision not to bolster his forward line with a free transfer move for Michael Owen continues to look like an oversight.

 

Still, the fact that lucrative extensions to the current contracts of Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and others has impacted on transfers illustrates the boundaries the Spaniard must work within.

 

It will require a loosening of the purse strings for the situation to change before the transfer window closes on August 31. But in an economic climate that has exposed the weaknesses of owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks, there is little sign of that happening.

 

The concern is that in order to find some of the money to trim their bank borrowings from £290m to £230m over the next 12 months, the US tycoons will eat into cash normally reserved for team strengthening, forcing Benitez into a financial straightjacket.

 

His scattergun policy of recruiting young talent from across the globe – the accumulative cost of which should not be sniffed at – has yet to pay dividends.

 

The lack of homegrown youngsters emerging from Liverpool’s academy also exacerbates the lack of hard cash being made available elsewhere.

 

It has well been documented that it is now 11 years since Gerrard rolled off the production line and the situation perhaps hints at a wider social problem in a city that purports to live and breath football.

 

It is remarkable to consider that since Wayne Rooney’s jaw-dropping emergence at Everton seven years ago, no other born-and-bred Scouser has come through and made his mark in the top flight.

 

Benitez has more pressing issues than that particular conundrum to solve, but it remains another problem with which he must wrestle.

[SpeedyG]

I gave up all realistic hope on Silva when Benitez said in an interview that the market was crazy as he was quoted 40-50m for a winger. I assumed that winger was silva and given the carry on with Villa and Barca it fits. Yossi then being given the 4 year contract sealed it for me.

[murphy]

Thats just depressing. He goes off on one a bit with that "social problem in the city" bollocks towards the end aswell.