Alonso refuses to rule out Liverpool return

Posted Tuesday, July 10, 2012 by ESPN

Xabi Alonso has refused to rule out a return to his former club Liverpool in the future but insists that he is currently happy at Real Madrid.

Alonso may have left Liverpool three years ago in 2009 but he still enjoys something of a cult status at Anfield.

The Spanish midfielder had a fruitful year both on the domestic and international front, lifting the La Liga title with Real Madrid before lifting the European Championship barely three months later with Spain.

Despite the recent successes, Alonso still reflects fondly on his time at Liverpool, and opened the door to a future move back to the Anfield outfit.

"I spent five fantastic years in Liverpool" he told ESPN STAR Sports Christy Simson.

"It was an experience that - I didn't feel that when I got there that it was going to be as wonderful as it ended being."

"I am really attached to Liverpool, so who knows in the future. At the moment, I am doing fantastically - I am not moving."

Liverpool fans will undoubtedly be rubbing their hands in glee at the prospect of seeing of the most successful players in the game play for the Reds again.

Indeed, success seems to follow Alonso wherever he goes but each accomplishment is equally precious to the Tolosa native.

"I think that I value a lot of it - each of them."

"When I won the Champions League with Liverpool, it was my first year at Liverpool. I was just 22 years old and it was such a big impact on my career that it was key."

"After with Madrid winning La Liga, we want to live now La Decima (10th Champions League victory) - that's the main target for us for the next season."

He added: "What we have achieved with the national team, it is historic - it is incredible - so it will take a lot of time for us to realize how difficult it has been to do this."

Having played top level football for so long, Alonso is no stranger to rubbing shoulders with the best players in the game and he feels that the La Liga is fortunate to have two of the world's best players in team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona's Lionel Messi showcasing their skills in the league.

Musing on both Messi and Ronaldo, he said: "They are different but they are outstanding players."

"It's a privilege for us to be living such a golden era of Spanish football. Not just the national team, but in La Liga as well-it's historic that both of them, they have scored over 40 goals in La Liga - that's absolutely incredible."

"For Barca, they are lucky to have Messi and for us, we are very, very lucky to have Cristiano."

Alonso also rejected claims that Ronaldo was lazy and refused to work for his team.

"Oh no, no - he loves running. He's a very hard worker and he's the key player for us."

The 30-year-old deep lying playmaker, who started out his career at Real Sociedad, now also has a wealth of experience after more than 10 years in the game and Alonso draws from this to back up his obvious technical qualities.

"Well, of course I think that I am much more mature now - I try to understand the game, to read the game from the midfield-try to give different pace of what the team needs, always thinking about what ‘s the best for the collective because for the centre position, that's what you have to do."

"The playmaker has to be around the teammates a lot to give solutions, to segue the ball quickly from one side to the other side, to link the defence with the attack-that's my job."

"If I feel that I play well, I get the teammates to play better."

For now, Alonso is just keen to take advantage of the extended break his Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho gave him and his Spanish team-mates after an exerting year in order to be fully fit for the new season.

"Jose's smart enough to give us some time to relax, to disconnect from this intense situation-it has been long and intense for a lot of us-time to charge batteries because another exciting situation is coming on the way."

Alonso made a total of 145 appearances in three seasons for Real Madrid, scoring six goals in the process.