Liverpool firmly in hunt for £20million Spanish star

There has obviously been loads of speculation with regard to who Liverpool will or won’t be signing this summer. Most of this is hogwash, designed to sell newspapers to speculation-hungry punters, although the prospect of Valencia midfielder David Silva arriving at the club seems very real.

None other than The Guardian report that Pool fans might actually get to witness a class act in a wide position next season, with Rafael Benitez firmly in the hunt for the player, who is thought to be available at the princely sum of £20million.

Not exactly small change for a club who need to watch the pennies this summer. Does this mean that players such as Xabi Alonso, Peter Crouch and Scott Carson need to be sold for some decent cash if Benitez is to land his man? John Arne Riise has already pocketed the club a few million but they need more!

Liverpool midfielder wants to stay - will Rafa stick or twist?

It’s possibly a good thing that Xabi Alonso seems in a determined mood to stick around at Anfield. After all, it appears that we might be waiting until June 2009 for Liverpool and Aston Villa to finally agree a suitable price for Gareth Barry.

The Daily Mirror reports that the Spaniard is expecting to be at Anfield, thus pouring hot water on the speculation linking him with a move to Juventus. It’s clear that the Italian club are interested in adding the midfielder to their ranks, although Alonso has never given any indication that he wants to leave Anfield, despite it being clear that the acquisition of Barry would make it doubly difficult for him to play regularly for the Reds.

“My plans are to start next season with Liverpool.

“I signed a contract last summer and I have four more years to go, unless there is a change. We’ll see what happens.”

Sadly for Alonso, manager Rafael Benitez might need to balance the books if Barry does arrive, especially as it’s going to cost nearly £20 million for the Villa captain. Liverpool haven’t got an abundance of cash and, if they are to strengthen in other departments, their manager will have to make some difficult decisions with regard to who he lets go.