The latest of the rumours is on ex-Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso making a return. Whist being linked with such a player, who enjoyed five good seasons as a first-team regular under Rafa Benitez and subsequently an incredibly successful time at Real Madrid and with the Spanish national team, may seem a positive prospect, it does raise a few issues concerning the transfer policy and the priorities of the club.
Xabi Alonso is 31 years of age, and is undoubtedly one of the highest earners at Real Madrid. In terms of playing style and ability, Alonso stands amongst the best in the role of deep-lying playmaker: his range of passing, ability to spot the first ball as well as his defensive positioning and work-rate makes for an outstanding asset on the field.
Whilst a link with such a player would no doubt state intent from the club in terms of quality of prospective personnel, Alonso’s purchase would be a highly dubious one.
For a start, the general feeling around the transfer policies of Liverpool is that we look to buy relatively young players who would fit in a rather rigid wage structure. Alonso is a player who may be at a reasonable transfer price, but his wage demands would be around £ 90, 000 per week.
Furthermore, on the pitch we do not play with an out-and-out deep-lying playmaker. Steven Gerrard comes close to being one in his current role, but Gerrard does burst forward every so often. Also, Xabi Alonso is an incredibly immobile player, and adding him into a team that wants to play a very quick passing team would be odd. Out-and-out deep-lying playmakers do not work in our team, as we use ball-winning midfielders as the deepest midfielder – hence the lack of use of Nuri Sahin earlier this season.
The transfer of Alonso will not address any of the issues that have plagued our season. Lack of physicality, lack of complementary squad depth and – most importantly – the issues of our defence are problems that Alonso will go no way in addressing.
If we do put Alonso high up on our list of transfers, then it would be highly disappointing. It would show that we have not prioritised our problems properly, and that we are quite frankly misusing limited funds.
I, like all other Liverpool fans, would like nothing more than to see Alonso back at Liverpool. But we cannot overlook priorities and pragmatism for nostalgia.
Follow Kerushun on Twitter @_kpil
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