Real Madrid are prepared to offer Liverpool a choice of Alvaro Negredo, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar or Rafael Van der Vaart as part of the deal to take Xabi Alonso to the Bernabeu as the Spanish club try to break the deadlock surrounding one of the summer’s longest-running transfer sagas.
Alonso handed in a formal, written transfer request on Wednesday night in a bid to expedite his move, held up for several weeks by Real’s refusal to meet Liverpool’s £30 million asking price for the Spanish international.
Rafa Benitez, the Liverpool manager, had asked Alonso for a decision on his future - though he had not, as has been suggested, put a definite time limit on the deal - and the player had hoped a declaration of intent would force both clubs to reach an agreement.
Benitez, though, remains adamant he will not reduce his demands for a player he does not wish to sell while Florentino Perez, the Real Madrid president, is determined not to pay over the odds for a player he does not see as a marketing investment, as he does Cristiano Ronaldo, and is unlikely to be happy at being forced into a corner.
Real would like to pay no more than £24 million and, with the clubs still £6 million apart in their valuations, the stalemate persists, transfer request or no.
Reports in Spain suggest Real are keen to overcome that by offering Liverpool their pick of Negredo and Huntelaar, the strikers, or Van der Vaart, the Dutch international midfielder.
Benitez insisted earlier in the summer that he has no interest in a swap deal, but he has been tracking Negredo for several months after the forward enjoyed a successful loan spell at Almeria.
Madrid are desperate to cut their squad - currently 29 strong, after the purchase of Alvaro Arbeloa from Liverpool and the sale of Gabriel Heinze to big-spending Marseille - as Spanish league rules dictate they can register a maximum of 25 players for their campaign.
They have attempted to offload Huntelaar to the French side and Stuttgart in recent weeks, while Negredo was offered to Valencia as part of a package to sign David Villa.
Sources in Italy believe Liverpool have already lined up Alonso’s most direct replacement after offering the Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani a five-year contract.
Benitez is thought to be ready to pay around £14 million to sign the Italian international from Roma, in the midst of an ownership tussle and chronically impoverished.
Valencia this morning insisted Benitez’s long-term priority target David Silva is not for sale.
Alonso handed in a formal, written transfer request on Wednesday night in a bid to expedite his move, held up for several weeks by Real’s refusal to meet Liverpool’s £30 million asking price for the Spanish international.
Rafa Benitez, the Liverpool manager, had asked Alonso for a decision on his future - though he had not, as has been suggested, put a definite time limit on the deal - and the player had hoped a declaration of intent would force both clubs to reach an agreement.
Benitez, though, remains adamant he will not reduce his demands for a player he does not wish to sell while Florentino Perez, the Real Madrid president, is determined not to pay over the odds for a player he does not see as a marketing investment, as he does Cristiano Ronaldo, and is unlikely to be happy at being forced into a corner.
Real would like to pay no more than £24 million and, with the clubs still £6 million apart in their valuations, the stalemate persists, transfer request or no.
Reports in Spain suggest Real are keen to overcome that by offering Liverpool their pick of Negredo and Huntelaar, the strikers, or Van der Vaart, the Dutch international midfielder.
Benitez insisted earlier in the summer that he has no interest in a swap deal, but he has been tracking Negredo for several months after the forward enjoyed a successful loan spell at Almeria.
Madrid are desperate to cut their squad - currently 29 strong, after the purchase of Alvaro Arbeloa from Liverpool and the sale of Gabriel Heinze to big-spending Marseille - as Spanish league rules dictate they can register a maximum of 25 players for their campaign.
They have attempted to offload Huntelaar to the French side and Stuttgart in recent weeks, while Negredo was offered to Valencia as part of a package to sign David Villa.
Sources in Italy believe Liverpool have already lined up Alonso’s most direct replacement after offering the Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani a five-year contract.
Benitez is thought to be ready to pay around £14 million to sign the Italian international from Roma, in the midst of an ownership tussle and chronically impoverished.
Valencia this morning insisted Benitez’s long-term priority target David Silva is not for sale.
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