If Liverpool lure the Xabi Alonso regen they are title contenders
Had Liverpool managed to lure Xabi Alonso to Anfield this summer, Martin Zubimendi might already be a Red; the pair have a mutual appreciation society that pretty much guarantees the Euro 2024 winner will follow the Euro 2008 and Euro 2012 winner across land and sea, even if that means leaving his beloved Spain for the frozen north of England.
Their bond is so strong that there is an assumption that Zubimendi has turned down Arsenal, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Barcelona in recent months because he is on a promise from Alonso that the pair will join Real Madrid in tandem next summer. It’s one hell of a promise.
And that’s the troublesome backdrop to Liverpool’s interest in Zubimendi, already touted by giddy Reds fans as the man to complete their midfield rebuild and bring them back into the title equation. The same was said by Arsenal fans and even optimistic Manchester United fans; the man who replaced Rodri in the European Championship is seen as the only man who can match him in the Premier League.
The least of Liverpool’s problems is Zubimendi’s release clause; at £51.7m he is ludicrously cheap for the final piece of a midfield jigsaw. The real challenge is to convince him that being an Alonso regen at Liverpool could be just as exhilarating as working under the man himself in Madrid. If Richard Hughes pulls off this deal, he is a genuine genius.
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“He’s an idol, a role model, so I’m delighted that he says nice things about me,” said Zubimendi in The Guardian in 2022. “Thing is, I think it’s the other way round. I get asked about him so much he must get bored of hearing me talk about him. He’ll be tired of me going on about how good he is.”
The pair worked together for a few “lovely months” at Real Sociedad, with Zubimendi crediting Alonso with giving him the knowledge and tools to become one of the world’s best press-beating midfielders. They spent hours in tactical conversation and have stayed in touch since, with Alonso calling him “a player all coaches would want”, extolling his virtues as an “axis” player.
With that kind of magnetic pull between player and coach, Liverpool are fighting what appears to be a losing battle, though the leak of interest would suggest that the Reds have received something other than a firm ‘no’.
Cynically, you might suspect that Liverpool desperately need a public pursuit of a high-profile player after a quiet summer and this may all come to nought, but for now Reds fans are equally desperate to believe.
Hughes’ pitch might be that at 25, Zubimendi can afford three years in England and still join Real Madrid at his relative peak. Alonso spent five wonderful years at Liverpool but he moved at 22, long before he became a European champion. The fear will be that his natural heir has already surpassed the Reds, who are unlikely to challenge for major titles this season. All the noises coming out of Spain were that he will only leave his beloved La Real for the dominant Real.
The encouraging thing for everybody associated with Liverpool is that they are clearly targeting the right kind of player for the style preferred by Arne Slot, with Wataru Endo likely to be discarded as the terrier-like stopgap he always appeared to be. If Zubimendi ultimately proves elusive then Liverpool surely have a list of similar players: controllers and conductors rather than destroyers.
But if Zubimendi does not prove elusive and Liverpool succeed where Arsenal have failed before them despite having a Spanish coach and a London location in their favour, then we might just have a third Premier League title contender.
