Liverpool were today finally set to admit defeat in their attempts to keep Xabi Alonso with the Spanish midfielder ready to complete a £30 million move to Real Madrid.

Even after last night’s 3-0 friendly defeat to Espanyol, Reds boss Rafael Benitez was insisting that he did not want to sell Alonso, but following a meeting between Real and Liverpool officials before the match the long-running saga appears to be coming to an end.

While no concrete agreement was reached by the clubs, talks were positive enough to ensure that Alonso will play his football at the Bernabeu rather than Anfield

in the coming season.

Alonso, who handed in a transfer request last week, came off the bench for the final six minutes last night in a match likely to be his last for Liverpool, who will now go all out to sign Roma hero Alberto Aquilani as a replacement.

Liverpool are expected to make a bid of around £18 million for the 25-year-old, though whether he has what it takes to be as influential as Alonso remains to be seen.