Who could replace Xabi Alonso?

By Kieran Beckles
6:57pm UK, Wednesday July 15, 2009

By Kieran Beckles, 6:57pm UK, Wednesday July 15, 2009

PHOTO: Phillip Chambers

It seems all but definite that Liverpool’s Spanish maestro Xabi Alonso will be leaving Anfield this summer.

Alonso has wowed fans for half a decade with his vast array of passing. He has been the architect of many of Liverpool’s great wins during the Benitez era. Indeed this season has seen Liverpool establish one of the most formidable central midfield trios in world football.

Javier Mascherano and Alonso are deployed as the two defensive midfielders with club captain, Steven Gerrard given licence to roam. Mascherano hounds the opposition into submission, while Alonso sprays the ball in all directions, orchestrating the tempo of the Liverpool team.

He is the fulcrum of the team. Should Rafa Benitez grant the Basque midfielder his wish, allowing him to join the flamboyant Real Madrid, Liverpool will be faced with an unenviable task.

Mascherano has been linked heavily with a move to the Nou Camp. Allowing both midfielders to leave would surely be out of the question – it would leave a gaping hole for Rafa to fill.

Preferably, if one was to leave, the departure of Mascherano would have less impact on the fortunes of the Liverpool team than the axis of the team, Alonso.

However Benitez may be left no choice in the matter. According to media reports, Alonso is definite in his desire to leave behind the club where he attained a Champions league and FA Cup medal.

So should the 27-year-old embark on a new challenge with Los Galacticos, who would make Benitez’s list of potential replacements?

Esteben Cambiasso has been touted as a possible successor to Alonso. The Argentine currently ply’s his trade with Scudetto winners, Inter Milan. The steely defensive midfielder has energy in abundance.

His style of play though would be more akin to that of his compatriot Mascherano. Certainly, he would fail to provide the same creative flair that Alonso has brought to the Merseyside club.

Udinese playmaker Gaetano D’Agostino, is another player who has been linked with a £17 million switch to the Premier League. D’Agostino who struggled at AS Roma, flourished in his time at Serie A minnows, Messina.

He helped the Italian club to a seventh place finish in 2004-05, proving instrumental to their success. He maintained a rich vein of form at Udinese, earning an international call-up thanks to his fine performances.

If Rafa preferred to look within the Premiership for a suitable candidate to take over the helm from Alonso, then he may look no further then West Ham United star Mark Noble.

Noble parades around the Hammers midfield, pulling the strings for the London side. Indeed at the tender age of 22, he could learn from the experienced Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano and be nurtured into England’s next blockbuster midfielder.

He has captained both West Ham and England under-21’s, showing fantastic leadership qualities for such a young player. He would also be a favourable option under the home-grown rule, set to be implemented in the near future.

A suitable Spanish replacement would be Athletic Bilbao’s 20-year-old prodigy, Javi Martinez. He has made a staggering 108 appearances for the club with Bilbao paying a staggering €6 million for him as a 17-year-old.

He is a traditional box to box midfielder. He could be likened to a young Steven Gerrard. Indeed Martinez has the raw talent, and with the correct guidance, could mature into an ideal replacement for Xavi, Iniesta and Alonso, all of whom are magicians with the ball.

Rafa Benitez could decide to cash in on Alonso and use the money to strengthen his squad elsewhere on the pitch. Lucas Leiva could be entrusted with the role. The Brazilian has shown a steady progression over the last two seasons but he would face a difficult task replacing Alonso.

HAVE YOUR SAY - 9 Comments

Joseph Davies on July 15th, 2009 at 7:26pm

Non of your suggestions are appropriate. Cambiasso is too old @ 29, Whilst if D’Agostino struggled @ Roma then he’s nowher near good enough for Liverpool. Whilst both noble & Martinez may develop into decent players they would be a risk at their current level & so would not be a replacement for Alonso who would be leaving at the peak of his powers & who was voted LFC player of the year last season!

If we have to loose alonso although still young I would much prefer the likes of Hamsik (Napoli), Hernanes (Sao Paulo), Moutinho (Sporting Lisbon), Defour (Liege) or Aquilani (Roma) who are currently all recieving rave reviews at their respective clubs!
George McDonald on July 15th, 2009 at 7:28pm

Xabi Alonso hasn’t left yet and until he does lets not debate about his replacement

Its the usual cr@p every year

January 2008 – Xabi to Barcelona
Summer 2008 – Xabi to Juventus
January 2009 – a brief respite
Summer 2009 – Xabi to Real Madrid

Unless Real stump up the cash a mere €35 in today’s market, which they seemingly are reluctant to do so right now cos he isn’t “marketable” never mind the fact he’s a gifted footballer, Xabi is going nowhere.

Simple as that …

In the meantime find a fresh story!
rouman on July 15th, 2009 at 7:54pm

best choice senna. then snijder…
buddha on July 16th, 2009 at 12:17am

real know they have about a 1 in 50 chance of prying xabi alonso away from anfield, but the way the media goes on about it you’d think he’s already on their friggin team. “xabi wants to leave” “we want xabi at the bernebeau” all a load of tosh.
the fact remains that xabi has not publicly stated his intention and desire to leave liverpool and join real madrid. all he said is that he’d like to play for real madrid, and that it is not up to him to decide such matters for LFC. any player would relish the thought of playing CM with ronaldo, kaka and benzema at your disposal, but that does not mean he wants to leave liverpool. his teammates respect him, the fans love him, I don’t think a stale misunderstanding between him and rafa which happened a year ago is enough to convince xabi to pack his bags.
Shane on July 16th, 2009 at 1:24am

How about lucas
tomombo on July 16th, 2009 at 3:21pm

Fabregas! U wish
mike on July 17th, 2009 at 7:36pm

scott parker
mike on July 17th, 2009 at 7:42pm

scott parker was west ham’s player of the season..and his style of play is similar to alonso,a good passer and has loads premiershp experience and he’s english..he would be the best replacement n midfield n would come cheap..and the balance of alonso’s transfer money should use to buy david silva as a cover for torres or gerrard..or on the left wing..benitez should really consider scott parker,and he would be happy with world cup coming up and playing with gerrard and johnson
Jon K on July 21st, 2009 at 4:39pm

Firstly, Mascherano is more vital to the Liverpool set-up than Alonso and although I’d like them both to stay, I’d much rather we lose the latter than the former. There is no one better than Mascherano in his position and style simple as that. Alonso great as he is, has numerous peers who play to his level or better.

Cambiasso is too old and the wrong style of player. D’Agostino doesn’t fill me with confidence although admittedly i know very little about him. Noble or Martinez good investments as they are would still be a step backwards from Xabi in their first season at least, and with arguably our best shot at the league title in years we should have an eye on the short term as much as the long term.

Aquilani or Sneijder I’d be happy with, but hopefully with a bit of cash left over for Silva!

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