Source: Daily_Mail
Alonso D-Day: Real ready to give up as Reds refuse to budge on £30m fee
Real Madrid are threatening to walk away from negotiations to sign Xabi Alonso if Liverpool do not drop their £30million asking price today.
The Reds' managing director Christian Purslow entered talks in Barcelona on Sunday demanding £30m up front for their 27-year-old with a further £4m in performance-related add-ons.
But although preliminary contacts had suggested a compromise was close, the Madrid director conducting negotiations, Jose Angel Sanchez, has only been sanctioned to offer £23m, rising to £25.5m with add-ons.
Liverpool are said to have been only prepared to lower their demands by £2m, seen by insiders at the Spanish giants as ridiculous.
Bernabeu president Florentino Perez will not deal at this level and had expected the price to fall following Alonso's decision to hand in a transfer request.
The Spain midfielder is understood to have already agreed in principle a hefty after-tax salary of £80,000 a week on a four-year deal with Madrid.
Sources in Spain suggest Alonso's agent Inaki Ibanez is also seeking £4.25m from the deal, which provides another barrier to the deal.
Madrid are ready to turn to Standard Liege's Steven Defour as an alternative. Coincidentally, Liverpool have also tracked the 21-year-old Belgium international as a potential replacement for Alonso.
Spanish newspaper Marca - seen as being close to Reak Madrid - revealed the club's interest in Defour on Monday and today picture the player holding a copy of the newspaper under the headline: 'I can be just as good as Xabi Alonso.'
With interest from Defour also coming from Everton, Aston Villa and Arsenal, Liege are trying to put the pressure on for an £18m deal to be done quickly.
That in turn increases the pressure on a resolution in Alonso talks and Madrid are believe it is time to walk away from the table if there is no progress today.
