Alonso's departure, Aquilani and another pre-season win for Liverpool FC

Well my friends as you all must be aware, Liverpool agreed a fee with Real Madrid yesterday and Alonso flew to Spain for a medical. Terms were agreed and Alonso was finally sold to the Spanish giants after a hard fought battle. Even Madrid have to agree that it wasn't easy to capture Xabi Alonso from Liverpool. Any team would be reluctant to sell a player who is a member of the backbone of the team. Contracts have now become means for managers to increase their asking price for teams interested in their players. Liverpool were willing to sell Xabi at 18M pounds last season and have managed to sell him at 30M pounds this summer. Initially, Liverpool secured Alonso at 10.5M pounds on a 4 year deal from Real Sociedad.

Xabi quickly became a fan favourite thanks to his long range passes making him one of the very rare midfielders capable of doing that in modern football. He scored quite a number of goals for Liverpool including a couple of these goals from his own midfield. These have been moments of magic and amazement which every Liverpool fan would find hard to forget. For this reason, I am sad by his departure. But Liverpool could not have forbid the player to fulfill his own dreams. Alonso said he wanted new challenges, so, Rafa started to work hard to find the most suitable replacement as soon as he made his intent known.

And Rafa's effort brought him to Roma's 25 years ace, Alberto Aquilani. Liverpool FC lost no time in trying to conclude the deal. Yesterday Liverpool were given permission to speak to the player who has yet to undergo a medical at Melwood. If all goes well, Aquilani will then be a Liverpool player with a fee around 15M pounds reportedly having agreed by both parties. Here's what Rafa had to say about Alberto Aquilani:

"Roma have allowed us to talk with him, so that's good and positive. He is a player with the quality we are looking for," said Benitez.

"He can play a little bit higher than Javier Mascherano - maybe between him and Steven Gerrard.

"He has good passing - the final ball is good - and he also works. If he can settle down properly in England he can be a very good addition.

"I think the signing should excite the fans. He won the U19 European Championship with his country, and U21 too. He has some trophies - including the Italian Cup.

"I always remember one game - England versus Italy U21s at Wembley, and he was man of the match in a 3-0 win."

Souce: liverpoolfc.tv

Moreover, Liverpool played their final away pre-season friendly match against FC Lyn yesterday and it was positive to see the Reds cruise to a 2-0 victory. The only worry of the match yesterday was to see Riera limp off the field after having twisted his ankle. He was sent on the pitch as a second half substitute. Liverpool FC now have three injury worries, notably Martin Skrtl, Daniel Agger and Riera becomes the newest addition to the list. Let's just hope all three players don't take too much time to get back on the turf.

Point to be noted that Alberto Aquilani currently has an ankle injury and will still be an injured player when Liverpool conclude his signing. The man is a promising young player and can do our midfield lots of good, so let's wish him good luck in his recovery. Looking forward to see him soon on the pitch playing some world class football and blowing away our minds.

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