Football - Liverpool FC: Juventus give up on signing Xabi Alonso

Jul 2 2009 by James Pearce, Liverpool Daily Post

Football - Liverpool FC: JUVENTUS have ruled themselves out of the running to sign Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.

Reports in Italy had suggested the Serie A club were preparing a bid for the 27-year-old who has been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid.

Alonso came close to joining Juve last summer but Liverpool’s failure to sign Gareth Barry meant the deal failed to materialise.

However, Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli insists they aren’t planning another swoop for the Spanish international.

“For the midfield, there are many names, but Xabi Alonso’s not one of those,” Cobolli Gigli said. “I read in the press about our interest for him. He’s a good player, but I think that saying I’ve read his name in papers is where it ends.”

Meanwhile, Fernando Torres has saluted manager Rafael Benitez for turning him into the most feared striker in the world.

The prolific 25-year-old believes the Liverpool manager deserves a great deal of credit for his heroics since his £20million move from Atletico Madrid two years ago.

Torres’s 84 appearances for LIverpool have yielded 50 goals and he signalled his commitment to the cause by signing an improved contract towards the end of last season. He said: “Rafa concentrates on the professional side of things. He tries to improve every minor detail and movement you carry out during the course of a game, and he also explains the reasons behind his decisions.

“He’s obsessed that you understand what you are doing and why. He’s not happy that you do things just because he tells you that something has to be done.

“He says: ‘Do it like this. Do you understand why you are being told to do so? No? We’ll go through it again then’.

“I remember when I signed for the club people were questioning me as a goalscorer. I received criticism because I wasn’t getting goals.

“The first thing he told me was that I was signed to score goals. Benitez is adamant that I live in the area because that’s where you get goals. That was the first thing he told me, the wing is for the wingers, and that the striker should be focused on the two rival centre-backs.

“The Spain team play very differently, we have to be constantly on the move. In England I have to draw the centre-back out of place so that Steve Gerrard can burst through.”

Torres’s gruelling campaign finally ended following his heroics for Spain in the Confederations Cup in South Africa.

He will now take a well earned break but he is already relishing the chance to return to Merseyside for pre-season later this month.

Torres admits he is happier both on and off the pitch since making the switch from Atletico in 2007.

“The way I view things has changed a lot in the last two years,” he revealed.

“Since I joined Liverpool I have enjoyed my time a lot more.

“I am no longer carrying all the responsibility I shouldered from my time at Atletico Madrid.

“I was the captain and a supporter at the same time, and the combination was unbearable.

“In Liverpool my quality of life has improved. I can do things here that would be unthinkable in Madrid.

“It was as if having come from Madrid meant that I would have everything I needed to be happy, but was nothing like that.

“Madrid was killing me. I couldn’t go to the cinema, shopping; the team weren’t doing well, it was a constant anguish.

“Here it’s the opposite. You get used to winning, you can go out and about, the people on the street respect your privacy.”

Meanwhile, Argentine winger Sebastian Leto has left Liverpool to join Greek side Panathinaikos.

Leto impressed during a season-long loan at Olympiakos.

However, they could not agree a deal and that allowed Panathinaikos to sneak in to seal the switch

The 22-year-old made just four appearances for Liverpool since arriving at Anfield in 2007.