Real trying to close Alonso deal before Euro 2004
Real Madrid are trying to close a deal to sign Real Sociedad and Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso before Euro 2004 gets underway, according to Sociedad president Jose Luis Astiazaran.
Real Madrid are trying to close a deal to sign Real Sociedad and Spain midfielder Xabi Alonso before Euro 2004 gets underway, according to Sociedad president Jose Luis Astiazaran.
Astiazaran said he had been in talks with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez over a possible transfer, but added they had yet to agree a price for the highly rated 22-year-old.
"There are still economic differences, but I don't think they are irreparable," Astiazaran told Spanish sports daily Marca on Thursday. "It would be good for everyone involved if a deal was done before the European championship begins."
Marca reported that Real were prepared to offer Sociedad 12 million euros plus a player, but the Basque side wanted 20 million euros with no part-exchange arrangements.
Real have been quick to move into the transfer market after a deeply disappointing season in which they finished fourth in the Primera Liga, lost the final of the King's Cup and were knocked out at the quarter-final stage of the Champions League.
The club broke with its previous policy of signing only big-name attack-minded players by paying 25 million euros for AS Roma's Argentine international centre-back Walter Samuel last month.
The move for Alonso is a further indication the club has decided to make a radical change in its strategy and sign young players that have yet to establish themselves on the international stage.
New coach Jose Antonio Camacho, the replacement for Carlos Queiroz who was sacked at the end of the season, is thought to have been instrumental in the club's shift in policy.
Alonso, in Spain's Euro 2004 squad but not assured of a place in the starting line-up, is a talented central midfielder noted for his passing skills and ball-winning ability.
Perez is reported to be keen to close the deal before he officially has to step down from his post on Friday to call the presidential election, scheduled to take place on July 11.
Perez has said he will be standing for re-election, but it is not yet clear if any of his rivals such as former president Lorenzo Sanz will decide to run against him.