Xabi Alonso had Arsenal agreement as details emerge on how he almost betrayed Liverpool

Rafael Benitez has disclosed a surprising transfer tale from his time at Liverpool, revealing that Xabi Alonso was on the brink of signing for Arsenal before the deal dramatically collapsed.

Alonso, who is considered a Liverpool legend, played a pivotal role in the 2005 Champions League victory under Benitez. Following his stint at Anfield, he enjoyed successful spells with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich before retiring.

However, Benitez dished out that it all could have played out differently for the 42-year-old who is nowadays a manager at Bayer Leverkusen.

Alonso was actually set to swap Liverpool for Arsenal during Benitez’s tenure. However, his involvement in a crucial Champions League qualifier against Standard Liege – despite his reluctance to avoid being cup-tied – changed things.

Speaking on the Sky Bet Stick to Football podcast, Benitez delved into the details: “Xabi Alonso is a very good player, a very clever person, and someone that is right.

“When we went for Gareth Barry, it was because he could play in three different positions and then we needed to sell [to sign Barry]. Xabi had an agreement; he was talking with one club and had an agreement.

“The year after, we played Standard de Liege for a Champions League qualifier and we had Javier Mascherano and Lucas Leiva in the Olympic Games, Steven Gerrard had a lower back problem, so we had to play [Damien] Plessis and Xabi. Xabi had an agreement with Arsenal and didn’t want to get cup tied.

“I told Jamie Carragher and Gerrard before the game that he had an agreement and doesn’t want to play, but he must because it is the most important game to qualify for the Champions League.

“Then when you [Carragher] were going out for the warm-ups, you said, ‘Poor Xabi.’ Not poor Xabi, he is playing for our club at this time. During the season he was our best player and didn’t go to Arsenal because he had to play [for us].

“We played against Lazio in our last pre-season friendly and the fans were clapping for Xabi, but he was going to Arsenal, the fans loved him.”

Earlier this year, there were rumours that Alonso might make a dramatic return to Anfield as a coach when the Bayer Leverkusen boss was identified as a potential replacement for the departing Jurgen Klopp.

However, he chose to stay in Germany, despite interest from both Liverpool and Bayern Munich. Instead, Liverpool announced Arne Slot as their new head coach.