Are Madrid for Real?

Just who the hell do Real Madrid think they are? Last week their club President was imposing deadlines of “until August” to complete the signing of Xabi Alonso and this week their director general, Jorge Valdano is moaning that Liverpool’s valuation of their player is “too high for our tastes, and, therefore, we see the player further away now. But everything can be turned back around.”

Does Valdano think his comments will inspire Liverpool to lower their valuation just so a player who the Liverpool manager views as key to his plans and whom the club does not want to sell, can join Madrid? What does Valdano mean by “further away”? Exactly how far away is “NOT FOR SALE” and how is that “further away” than on 14th June when Liverpool released an official statement on 14th June stating:

“Despite repeated media speculation on the futures of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano, Liverpool has received no official approach or offer from any club regarding the players.

"Neither is for sale and furthermore Liverpool has no interest in the long list of Spanish based players being linked with a move to Anfield as part of any deal."

Real’s tactic is simple: ignore the player’s current club’s willingness to sell the player and seduce the player through the media in the expectation that the player will demand the ‘dream’ transfer.

That is why Real, for all their talk of signing Alonso, have never actually made Liverpool an official bid for the player. That is why Kaka was shamefully used to urge Alonso to join him in Madrid during his post-signing press conference. That is why Perez and Valdano have continually disregarded Liverpool’s stance that the player is not for sale by talking about a “potential” transfer.

The sad truth is, over the years, this same approach has proven repeatedly successful. Hopefully, Alonso will reject their overtures but if he did ask to be allowed to join Real, Liverpool would be well within their rights to demand that on top of Alonso’s proper transfer value, they receive suitable compensation for the inconvenience in having to replace a key player with whom the club did not wish to part company. If Real were prepared to pay £80 million for Cristiano Ronaldo and £56 million for Kaka, I would estimate Alonso’s current value to be in the region of £30 million. With compensation added, that figure should increase to somewhere between £40-45 million.

Given Real have ripped us off three times previously – paying nothing for McManaman, paying a derisory £8.5 million for Owen and throwing in Nunez as part of the Owen deal – we should screw them for every last penny if they force us to deal over Alonso. Or better still, just tell them to sod off.