Pellegrini hopeful over Alonso

Real manager knows signing Reds ace will not be easy

By Richard Bailey   Last updated: 12th July 2009   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Pellegrini hopeful over Alonso

Pellegrini: Speaks out about Alonso

Related links

Teams

Players

Also see

Real Madrid manager Manuel Pellegrini has not given up hope of finally signing Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.

The Chilean coach has been somewhat silent over the summer as the Madrid club try and spend their way to success.

The extravagant arrivals of Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo, Raul Albiol and Karim Benzema for a total close to £200million this summer has many believing the club's spending spree is finally over.

But their continuous chasing of Alonso suggests otherwise despite Reds manager Rafa Benitez stating the player is not for sale.

"It's not a mystery that Real Madrid are interested in signing him (Alonso) but it won't be easy," he said.

"We are looking at alternatives for some positions. The attack is complete and perhaps a central midfielder or full-back is still missing but the rest of the positions are covered."

Departures

With more new arrivals expected at the Bernabeu in the coming weeks many expect a whole host of Real players to be heading for the exit this summer.

Dutch quartet Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben and Rafael Van der Vaart have all been linked with moves away from the Spanish capital but Pellegrini insists that is not the case.

"When there is some news the club will announce it," he added.

"But it's not true that all the Dutch players are going to leave as has been reported in the media."