Thursday, November 27, 2008

Xabi Alonso Not Closing Door On Serie A


Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso talked about the club he almost joined last summer, Juventus, and does not exclude joining a Serie A club one day.

Last summer Liverpool star Xabi Alonso was very close to joining Juventus, but mostly due to economic reasons, the move did not go through. Today the Spanish international spoke to Sky about what happened and also sent message to

"Juventus were interested in me last summer, they even came to Liverpool, but they were normal summer negotiations," he said. "I generally don't give much importance to negotiations, until it's not certain anything can happen. In the end I stayed at Liverpool, which was my first choice anyway."

He then commented on Juve's current form: "Juve have gone through difficult times, but now they're doing much better, both in the league and the Champions League. They are a solid, compact team. That's their strength. And they also have extraordinary players, who can be decisive at the right times."

When Juve were struggling, some fans felt that the failure to sign Alonso was sorely felt.

"I did not know that some Juve fans felt my absence," he said on that. "In football it often works like that. When a team struggles it's normal to think about players who did not come or who left in the previous years.

"[Claudio] Ranieri said I'm slow? There's no problem, I respect his opinion. But I have a lot of confidence in my qualities, thanks to which I am playing with the national team and Liverpool. I don't think I'll ever be the fastest player in a team, but I have other qualities which are important for my role in the team."

On the eventuality of playing in Serie A, Alonso said: "I have not closed the door in Italy, I could also return to Spain, or I could end my career with Liverpool. We'll see in the future, but for now I have to think about the present and Liverpool."

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