Ranieri claims Alonso is ‘too slow’

October 9, 2008

Claudio Ranieri has revealed he backed out of a deal to sign Spanish internationalist Xabi Alonso because he believes the midfielder to be “too slow”.

The Juventus coach had made the Liverpool midfielder - a Euro 2008 winner - one of his main transfer targets in the summer but failed to reach an agreement for the former Valencia star.

“He was a player we wanted but, who even though he is an extraordinary man and a great professional, left me perplexed by the slowness of his movement in midfield,” Ranieri said of Alonso.

He added: “In the midfield of Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool, where all of them are little soldiers, he finds himself in a fantastic position. But in our midfield, he would have found it hard to support the midfield line seeing as (Juve wingers) Mauro Camoranesi and Pavel Nedved are not players that come back to give support like Liverpool’s wingers.”

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