Barcelona, La Liga

Where Is Xabi Alonso Heading?

According to reports out of Spain, Real Madrid midfielder has decided not to sign a new deal and will instead move abroad when his contract expires at the end of the season.

“In the club we have no information — they are talking and there is no news,” Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said on the AS website. “Whether he signs or not, it will not stop Xabi being a Real Madrid player until the summer of 2014, and we hope he remains one after. Until that date he is a very important player. When he is available, he is going to play.”

Ancelotti had said last week that he hoped the midfielder’s popularity among the fans would convince him to stay, but reports over the weekend claimed that Alonso had already made up his mind to leave Madrid for “personal reasons,” with El Confidencial claiming the 32-year-old is refusing even to take president Florentino Perez’s calls.

Meanwhile, ‘Bernabeu sources’ told AS that Madrid were not willing to pay the eight to 10 million euro annual salary being demanded by his agent, Inaki Ibanez.

So where does the 32-year-old midfielder go? The most likely destination is to Serie A and Juventus. But don’t give up on seeing Alonso making a return to the Premier League where gManchester United and Manchester City are said to have made contract offers. Alonso is free to talk to these clubs next week and could sign a pre contract before the end of January.