Thursday, July 16, 2009

Real admit doubts over duo

Real admit doubts over duo

Real Madrid have admitted that they look set to miss out on transfer targets Xabi Alonso and Franck Ribery.

Real have embarked on a remarkable summer spending spree, bringing in Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Raul Albiol.

But returning president Florentino Perez's recruitment drive is not expected to end with that quartet and moves for Liverpool midfielder Alonso and Bayern Munich's French ace Ribery have long been mooted.

However, both the Anfield outfit and the Bundesliga giants are not keen to part with their players and have insisted they are not for sale.

Real Madrid sporting director Miguel Pardeza confirmed that their interest in the duo could well come to nothing, although he did hint they could continue their pursuit of the Spain international.

Negotiations

Pardeza told Cadena SER : "Rumours have abounded this week.

"Xabi Alonso is a great player and we can't deny that this team would greatly benefit from his work, but it looks like the situation may not end up well for us.

"We'll nevertheless keep fighting for him and hope negotiations become reasonable again."

He added: "Bayern Munich haven't even shown interest in transferring Ribery.

"It doesn't seem to be reasonable to keep insisting when so much money is asked for a player."

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Dudek wants Alonso reunionAlonso, Scott back in fold for Seattle