RAFAEL BENITEZ is still battling to keep Javier Mascherano at Liverpool in the wake of Xabi Alonso making his position with the club virtually untenable. Alonso is believed to have contacted the Liverpool manager and told him he wants to join Real Madrid, but stopped short of asking for a transfer.

The Spain midfielder remarkably made the call less than 24 hours before he married his long-term girlfriend Nagore Aramburu in his home city of San Sebastian on Saturday.

That plea to Benitez came as the Bernabeu giants stepped up their relentless pursuit of the 30-year-old, and although Benitez still does not want to sell, there seems little chance now that Alonso can remain a Liverpool player. But whereas Alonso looks like he is on his way out of Anfield, Mascherano is still very much in Benitez’s plans.

The manager intimated towards the end of last season that the Argentina captain would be given a new contract this summer, and that is now a matter of urgency for Benitez. The Spanish boss took his squad to a Swiss training camp on Sunday, with Mascherano due to join them tomorrow. That arrival has been delayed after the midfielder became a father for the second time at the weekend, but he is due to travel to Switzerland on Thursday.

Benitez has privately claimed that suggestions Mascherano’s wife cannot settle in Liverpool has been an excuse, and he believes he is much more likely to persuade the midfielder to stay.

Alonso, surely, is now a different matter. Benitez revealed he had a string of phone calls from Alonso while the player was away with Spain at the Confederation Cup in South Africa. And since then he has become increasingly irritated by further calls from the player as Madrid’s interest has heightened. This latest call was probably the final straw, but Benitez will be determined to get a fee approaching €35 million, despite Madrid’s offer being considerably smaller than that figure.

Liverpool will play St Gallen tomorrow in their first pre-season game, with a match against Rapid Vienna on Sunday. Alonso is due to travel to Vienna on Sunday, along with the rest of Liverpool’s Spanish contingent, to join up with the rest of the party heading from the Austrian capital to the Far East for two matches against Thailand and Singapore.

The chances of Alonso being on that trip now seem remote, with the player’s insistence his future is sorted out before the weekend.

Even if Liverpool lose Alonso, the playing strength Benitez has at his disposal is not lost on defender Martin Skrtel, who believes the competition for places particularly in the centre of defence is a positive thing, where they have Daniel Agger, Jamie Carragher and Skrtel fighting for recognition. Skrtel said: “For me, I hope there is a lot of improvement to come. I am 24 as is Daniel Agger and that is still very young for a centre-back. Every day in training you can learn from players like Jamie.”