Xabi gone, time to spend spend spend!

Liverpool will use £17 million of the £30m they have raised from the sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid to sign Alberto Aquilani, the Roma midfielder. Officials at Anfield also plan to meet with Valencia this week to discuss a deal for David Silva, while a second offer for Sylvain Distin also remains a possibility.

Doh! Barcelona are at it again!

Cesc Fabregas's future has been plunged into further doubt by claims from Spain that Arsenal have agreed to let him join Barcelona next summer.
The two clubs signed a pact and agreed a fee of between £25million and £30m for the 22-year-old midfielder before Arsenal's Champions League play-off defeat of Celtic, according to Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo.

And around we go once more!

Real Madrid are threatening to walk away from negotiations to sign Xabi Alonso if Liverpool do not drop their £30million asking price today.

The Reds' managing director Christian Purslow entered talks in Barcelona on Sunday demanding £30m up front for their 27-year-old with a further £4m in performance-related add-ons.

The latest rumour, not that it's a new latest rumour, is that Xabi Alonso will complete his move to Real Madrid at the end of this week and then David Silva will be brought in by Rafa.
Real are signing Xabi one minute but not the next, with them coming in with a higher offer, before lower it or losing interest all together the next, all of which is (or has) unsettled the Spanish international.

Over the last year, Rafael Benitez has wasted a huge chunk of the club's money on transfers that, for whatever reason, just didn't work out. With news that Liverpool have reportedly accepted a £4.3m bid from Napoli for left-back Andrea Dossena, this money-wasting trend seems set to continue.
I think we can all agree that last summer was an utter disaster for Liverpool when it came to transfers.

Done deal.

Xabi Alonso deal is done. Liverpool are on the verge of striking a compromise deal to sell Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid.
Alonso's move to the Bernabeu has dragged on through the summer, with Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez demanding £35million and Real offering £25m for the Spain midfielder.

Today marks the day that Arsene Wenger becomes the longest serving manager in Arsenal history. To put into words the impact he has had on the club in a little over thirteen years is almost a futile exercise despite such a rich history, Arsenal are now different in almost every way from the day he arrived.

Never ever take anything you read on Wikipedia as a fact, if you do, then you are a moron. FACT!

De Rossi: So good he can levitate!

Arsene Wenger's preferred midfield target this summer is the Roma and Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi, and despite the Italian club's reluctance to sell Arsenal have not given up hope that Roma's perilous financial position could force a sale.

Spanish winger Joaquin was the provider for both the La Liga sides late goals, setting up first Michel and then David Villa as Valencia eased past Arsenal at the Mestalla.

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• Man United Plan £100m La Liga Trio Bids: Sir Alex Wants to Outspend Neighbours?

by CARL ELDRIDGE Ray Parlour seems to call it about right as he throws his two pennyworth into the mega-millions mix swilling around this morning as Manu Adebayor prepares to join Manchester City.

In this morning's Daily Star, Parlour has accused the Togo star of lacking the stomach for a fight during his last year at Arsenal.

It's safe to say that Darren Bent is leaving Tottenham, but for who? It looked like Sunderland was a go for Bent, but until all of the i's have been dotted and all of the t's crossed, nothing is definite.

Along with late bids for Bent, this morning's roundup is packed chock full of Portsmouth tidbits, and we've also got the latest on Chelsea's pursuit of AC Milan's Andrea Pirlo, Hull's pursuit of new striker(s), and much more.

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is expected to make a move for Valencia's David Villa once Xabi Alonso's £30 million move to Real Madrid has gone through.
With Alonso guaranteed to leave this summer having submitted a transfer request earlier this week following months of speculation, Benitez and his scouting team have been on the look out for a suitable replacement.

Real Madrid will make a move for Standard Liege midfielder Steven Defour if there is no progress in talks to sign Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.
The Spanish giants had hoped to reach an agreement by the end of Monday to sign 27-year-old Alonso after taking part in face-to-face talks with Anfield officials in Barcelona on Sunday.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez is closing in on Valencia's David Silva with the increasing likelihood that Real Madrid will land £30million-rated Anfield star Xabi Alonso.
Alonso fell out with Benitez last summer after efforts were made to offload him to Juventus to raise the money for a move for England midfielder Gareth Barry.

Rounding up all the yesterday's biggest transfer news and gossip.

Rafa Searches For Replacements As Alonso Hands In Transfer Request
Alonso has today handed in a written transfer request, paving the way for Aquilani to join Liverpool. It is believed that Real Madrid and Liverpool will agree on a price believed to be between £28M and £30M.

Liverpool's co-owner George Gillett has reportedly defended his and Tom Hicks's reign at Liverpool and pointed the finger at the manager, Rafael Benítez, after a disappointing start to the season.
Liverpool's defeat at Chelsea on Sunday was their third in the Premier League this season and followed a 2-0 reverse at Fiorentina in the Champions League.

In a series of exchanges with a supporters' representative, Liverpool co-owner George Gillett Jr gave more credence to something that has been worrying Manchester United followers.
Bullish about Liverpool's financial situation, he pointed out the £30m from the sale of Xabi Alonso was made available to Rafa Benitez.

Rio to Spurs
With Rio Ferdinand suffering from poor form and repeated injuries, the papers have pencilled Harry Redknapp in for trying to sign our defender in the summer. Rio seems to be gravitating towards the London lifestyle again and next summer United might be looking to get back some of the £30m they paid out for him eight years previously.

Liverpool set to make hopeful move for Croatian international.

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The news doing the rounds over the weekend involved the reported interest shown by Liverpool in our top notch striker Eduardo and for some reason the miserly sum of £10m was repeatedly mentioned, which is probably only sufficient to purchase one of his legs and not the rest of his body.

Dirty Tackle reports on the trouble between Red Star Belgrade and Partizan Belgrade fans in which Adem Ljajic scored the winning goal.

Martin Samuel writes for The Daily Mail claiming Sir Alex Ferguson was right not to fork out £30m for Carlos Tevez.

The Evening News talks about Fergie's critical comments of those who slagged off the manager's selection choice against Besiktas.

Reports suggest that Liverpool are struggling financially, and thus will need to sell to buy.
The following article by COS contributor Reds Lewis, looks at the areas of the first team which are commonly
reffered to as "dead-wood", and who they could be keeping out of a Reds Shirt.

Get Liverpool Tickets at Fantastic Prices Now!

I know it's the silly season, but Man City's bid for John Terry is easily the silliest transfer attempt of the summer. City's initial £30m offer for the Chelsea captain was firmly rejected by the club, and a little bit laughed at by football fans. Now they're apparently preparing a £40m bid, which will also [.

At the end of the season, I was planning to put together a piece on how the single most important thing we can do this summer is keep the squad intact, and avoid the major losses we've suffered over the past few years. I never actually got round to it, but to remind you, here are our major sales from our last four summers:

2008: Flamini, Gilberto, Hleb, Lehmann (following Diarra in January)

2007: Henry, Ljungberg (following Lauren in January)

2006: Campbell, Cole, Pires

2005: Vieira, Edu

Some stellar names there, I'm sure you'll agree.

Villa looks like he's about to go rob a bank in the photo above... but sadly, it was announced today that Barca are not willing to pay 50 million euros for him. Now, someone needs to rob Real Moneda's bank! Potter Perez should be surrounded by the dancers on Chiambretti Night and maybe Laporta can get at least 30m.

Here's the latest European Transfer News that included Real Madrids pursuit of Liverpool star Xabi Alonso and the latest on John Terry and Manchester City's bid at the Chelsea captain.

Real Madrid still after Xabi Alonso - Real Madrid coach Manuel Pellegrini has reaffirmed his club's interest in Liverpool midfielderXabi Alonso yet reports suggest there could be other clubs interested in buying the Spanish international.

Messrs Hicks and Gillett, get your chequebooks at the ready!

Liverpool are working diligently for Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani, and they have taken swift action amid reports that Xabi Alonso has handed in a transfer request.

According to Il Messaggero, a Liverpool emissary arrived in the capital on Wednesday night in order to engage the Italian international.

Xabi Alonso was the best player last season at Liverpool, I don't think I'm over the line with that statement. So if Real Madrid is going to take away the prized midfielder, they're going to have to match the £30m...

Encouraging news about former legend's potential move back to north London.

• Tottenham Close In On £3.5m Midfield Veteran Patrick Vieira (10)
• Spurs Open Talks with Former Arsenal Captain! (1)
• Arsenal Want £30m De Rossi: What a Load Of Rubbish! (2)
• The Rumour Room: Morning Round-Up (13)
• Arsenal Will Offer Vieira Huge Deal to Encourage Dream Return (16)

With the €30m (plus extras) signing of Xabi Alonso, Real Madrid are finally done spending for the summer. Possibly because they've used up all the money in the world. Now that it's over, we can step back and take a look at exactly what it is Madrid have done these past few months. According to most [.

Pepe Guardiola's Barcelona side continued their US tour with a stuttering performance against Mexican side Guadalajara and were lucky to come away with a point with Bojan tapping in to spare the Champions League winners blushes.

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Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez insists new signing Alberto Aquilani will prove to be a shrewd acquisition.
The Italy international has joined the Reds in a £15million switch from Roma, but is currently sidelined with an ankle problem.
The 25-year-old has been hampered by injuries for the past two seasons, with his first-team outings severely limited as a result.

Danny Simpson has been loaned out to Newcastle after spending last season on loan at Blackburn and Ipswich. Whilst he's a player we all want to do well, given that he's a Salford lad, last season seemed to confirm his fate. He couldn't even get in the Blackburn team so what future could he have with us?

Rafa Benitez's hopes of challenging Manchester United to end Liverpool's 19-year wait for a title seem to have been extinguished already after he was told last week that the remainder of his transfer budget for the summer would be £2million - a revelation which seems to have prompted the highly-charged midweek atmosphere at Melwood and the reports that the manager was poised to quit.

Liverpool's shaky start to the season poses a fresh threat to the American ownership of the club.
Tom Hicks and George Gillett Junior's business model depends on Champions League qualification.
Just three weeks into a campaign which began with grand hopes of securing the title, key Anfield figures are gravely concerned about fending off the top four bids of Manchester City and Spurs.

The summer transfer window is now firmly shut, putting a cap on Real Madrid's spending at about €250m(!!!), but the eternal question begs asking: What if it continued?

Sept. 5 Disappointed that Cristiano Ronaldo doesn't already have between 10 and 15 goals, Florentino Perez offers Manchester United €117m more for 2008 Ronaldo.

Portsmouth Vs Liverpool Tickets Still Available!

Liverpool's co-owner George Gillett has reportedly defended his and Tom Hicks's reign at Liverpool and pointed the finger at the manager, Rafael Benítez, after a disappointing start to the season.

Liverpool's defeat at Chelsea on Sunday was their third in the Premier League this season and followed a 2-0 reverse at Fiorentina in the Champions League.

Man City are continuing their relentless pursuit of John Terry, with crazy figures like £300k per week being mooted in the press, in addition to a possible £30m transfer fee.

Is he worth it? Purely as a player, arguably not. He is 28, increasingly injury prone, and there are whisperings of impending vulnerability.

A couple of more days and the new Bundesliga season will be in full swing. I waited too long this summer, already got used to last year's shorter summer period after the Euro 2008. Worst, there was only very little exciting transfer activity in the Bundesliga.

Bayern decided for some reason to pay 30M Euro for Mario Gomez, Werder bought Marin from Gladbach and the Bundesliga lost in Diego one of its biggest stars.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has revealed he had little choice but to sell Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid, because the 27-year-old Spaniard wanted to leave the club.
The former Valencia coach did however assure Liverpool fans that new signing Alberto Aquilani will prove a huge hit at Anfield.

Danny Simpson has been loaned out to Newcastle after spending last season on loan at Blackburn and Ipswich. Whilst he's a player we all want to do well, given that he's a Salford lad, last season seemed to confirm his fate. He couldn't even get in the Blackburn team so what future could he have with us?