Alonso's Liverpool future uncertain

Soccer:Liverpool fans seem set for another summer of uncertainty surrounding midfielder Xabi Alonso.

A year ago, Alonso seemed to be on his way out of Anfield as boss Rafael Benitez tried to raise money for the purchase of Gareth Barry from Aston Villa.

Alonso was then linked with Juventus and Arsenal. This time around it is Real Madrid who are believed to be hot on his trail.

Liverpool fans made it very clear to Benitez last summer they did not want their hero to leave and they will do so again if they get the chance.

But Alonso left Anfield last night, after a significant role in Liverpool's 3-1 win over Tottenham, unwilling to talk about his future and clearly unable to say anything other than "I don't know" when asked if he was leaving.

Earlier, Benitez had tried to quell the rumours by saying: "He is not for sale and we do not want to sell."

But with money tight still at the Premier League runners-up, Benitez could well cash in on Alonso now if a €22.5million offer came in.

But Benitez did confirm he had held "private" talks with Alonso's agent on Friday.

Real Madrid are believed to be interested in the Spain international, if Florentino Perez wins their presidential election.

And it is now rumoured Alonso may well be persuaded to move to the Bernabeu, with the prospect of Barry finally arriving at the club.

Benitez was quizzed on the possibility of Alonso leaving and Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez arriving this summer, but would only say: "Clearly I cannot give any names (of players leaving or arriving).

"Alonso has three years left on his contract and we are really pleased with him, so we do not want to sell.

"But I have had a private conversation with his agent and it was interesting to see who then had that information.

"For me it was a private conversation, and it will stay that way, but it is clear he has three more years of his contract and we do not want to sell him.

"I repeat. We do not want to sell, he is not for sale. He has said he is happy here in Liverpool, in every single press conference, in every single interview.

"We have some ideas for the future, without losing any of our key players."

Liverpool had earlier secured the runners-up spot with 86 points, their Premier League record haul, and finished four points behind champions Manchester United.

The victory over Spurs was a fifth successive win and completed a run of 11 matches without defeat, dropping only two points.

The eventual ease of Liverpool's win allowed Benitez to give veteran defender Sami Hyypia the final minutes on the pitch to say farewell to the club's fans after 10 years at Anfield.

He will now join Bayer Leverkusen, and Benitez said: "We are losing a fantastic professional, a very good player and a very good person.

"But it had all been planned, Steven Gerrard was always going to come off and give him the armband at the end."

Spurs boss Harry Redknapp saw his club's chances of European football ended, despite seventh-placed Fulham's home defeat by Everton.

A Spurs win would have seen them leapfrog their London rivals to claim a Europa League spot.

Redknapp said: "We were short of several players and lost Jonathan Woodgate the day before the match.

"We tried our hardest, European football would have been a real achievement considering the position Spurs were in when I arrived at the club.

"We almost did it in the end. But to have climbed from bottom to eighth is something to be proud of.

"We were just not able to hurt Liverpool. Some of our defending was poor, the goals we gave away could have been averted."