Former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has revealed that the Reds had to sell Xabi Alonso as his form had dipped.
The former Valencia, Liverpool and Inter Coach has published a book entitled Champions League Dreams in which he discloses the main reasons why the Spanish international was sold to Real Madrid.
Benitez was in charge at Anfield between 2004 and 2010, during which he won the Champions League against Milan and UEFA brought in a rule for the competition requiring clubs to field a minimum of eight home-grown players.
“We knew that we needed to sell players in the summer to bring in reinforcements, above all British ones.
“That meant we would have to sell somebody for a good price and we decided the best candidate was Xabi Alonso.
“He had been a great player for us but had not shown his best form in the last two years,” wrote Benitez.
The 52-year-old, who has not coached since leaving Inter in December 2010, said that Juventus was one of the teams most interested in the player but ‘they did not want to pay the price we were asking’.
Alonso was eventually offloaded in August 2009 for a reported €35m.
