Xabi Alonso was one of the Liverpool players at today’s press launch of the new Liverpool kit, which was also an official launch of the tie-up between Liverpool and Adidas. Xabi also wanted to make it clear he’d continue to wear Liverpool shirts as long as he could, despite rumours at the weekend.
Rumours in Spain said that Real Madrid wanted to try and sign the star, but as always, Liverpool won’t sell their top players unless the players themselves want to move. Rafa Benitez confirmed this, and today Xabi made it clear he’s no wish to move on.
Xabi said: “I want to stay at Liverpool, that is for sure. I know there have been stories in the Spanish press but I take no notice of them. I am only interested in playing for Liverpool and I’m concentrating only on preparing for the new season.”
Meanwhile Scott Carson still isn’t sure if he’ll be wearing one of the new goalkeeper’s kits this season. He’s possibly going to go out on loan, but no decision has been made yet by Liverpool. This is causing problems for Sheffield Wednesday boss Paul Sturrock who was keen to try and get another loan deal tied up for the England World Cup squad member. Carson is reported as saying he’d be happy to return on loan to Wednesday, but Sturrock can’t get Liverpool to make a decision. For now, he’s hanging on in hope.
Speaking to BBC Radio Sheffield, Sturrock said he hopes the final answer will come tomorrow: “It is not looking as if we will get him, but until I get a definite ‘no’ from Liverpool, I will keep chipping away. I think the Wednesday fans would have wanted to wait as long as I could to get Scott and in the end I’ve probably waited longer than I should. Plan A has always been to sign Scott, Plan B has been scuppered because we’ve been hanging on for him and now we’re having to move onto Plan C.”