As Liverpool miss out on the chance of signing Gareth Barry, Real Madrid are not giving up on Xabi Alonso. They have now announced a bid of £20 million, and will be trying to persuade Alonso that a move back to his native country would be good for him. Alonso’s last season was world class, and Liverpool will probably find it very hard to let him go.

Suprisingly Gareth Barry has signed a conract with Manchester City. Rafael Benitez has tried to sign the midfielder from Aston Villa for quite some time, but as it turns out he has now signed a five year contract with City and will definetly not be playing for the reds next year.

As Rafa Benitez is eager to get some quality new players to Anfield this summer, he will also have to sacrifice some of his more profiled players in order to finance the new deals. The first to leave, could very well be winger Ryan Babel. The Dutchman is said to be free to talk to other clubs about a potential 11 million move. *EDIT* Latest news: The transfer could now be worth as little as £ 8 million, as Liverpool realise they will lose money on Babel. It cost Liverpool £ 10 million to sign him from Ajax in 2007.

The new Silly Season section of the site will keep you updated on the latest transfers to and from Liverpool, as well as rumors and speculations about the team. As Liverpool will try to take the leap from second to first next season, there will most definetly be a few changes in the squad over the summer months. In order to be able to complete some of these new signings, Rafa must most probably also sell some of the players. There are some very interesting names on the list below.